kijutsu no izou
by Gamma Cavy
Summary: When an old friend of the sandime hokage realizes that three of his students are in need of shinobi skills as well as those of a wizard he proposes a trade. But as the golden trio train under kakashi and team 7 learn magic, a pair of imortality seeking snakes team up. can the two groups survive? read and find out.
1. Chapter 1 Team Seven Receives a Letter

**A.N. I was going through my old saved files when i found this. I know it is similar to many other stories but I hope it is original enough to avoid cliches. I was inspired by the works of other writers but have tried to put my own spin on things. I am currenty searching for a beta reader so please forgive any mistakes.  
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**Disclaimer: I own ****only ****the plot, wish i own'd Naruto though.  
**

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Chapter One– Team Seven Receives a Letter

It was blazing hot during midsummer in Fire Country and there was no exception for the Shinobi hidden village of Konoha. For the Genin of Team Seven, it was hell. The day's training was to focus of taijutsu, as they had just completed the Chuunin Exams with all limbs and organs sit in perfect working order. So having abandoned their jackets in the face of such a heat wave, rival teammates Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke fought under the watch of the sensei Hatake Kakashi and final teammate Haruno Sakura.

"Is that all you can do dobe?" Sasuke sneered as he did a back flip just allowing him to narrowly miss getting hit with Naruto's attack.

"Will you just cease with the taunting teme and stick to the fighting?" Naruto growled angrily as he dodged an incoming punch.

They clashed this time, sending both boys back from the impact. Naruto was panting from exhaustion, as was Sasuke. They clashed again, but this time the orange clad boy managed to land a hit. He smirked with satisfaction as the last Uchiha looked up at him with a look of pure murderous rage.

'Who's the dobe now?' Naruto thought with a slight snicker as his teammate once again throw himself at him. Their last clash however has enough to render them low on chakra and thus unable to continue. Collapsing unceremoniously in a heap on the ground, both boys groaned in pain.

"Well what did you expect was going to happen after going all out like that?" Sakura asked lazily as she looked up from a scroll she had been reading.  
She only got a grunt in reply.

Then Kakashi finally started to clap. Their silver haired Jonin instructor had for the first time that day set down his book (Come, Come Paradise) and was now standing to applaud both of them at a job well done.

"Excellent!" the Copycat nin laughed heartily. "Aside from exhausting yourselves, you both did a superb job. I can see the improvement you're making"

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei" they panted as they finally managed to push themselves up into a sitting position.

"Well then how about we conclude training for the day?"

The three tired Genin smiled and were about to agree when suddenly something shot out of nowhere and collided with Naruto the side of the head. It was something hard and feathered.  
"Itai!" he cried out in shock as he managed to hold his head and catch whatever it was at the same time.

The four startled nins looked down and what appeared to be an owl in Naruto's hands.  
"Hey… it's holding something!" Sakura gasped.

Before anyone could do anything, Kakashi snatched a large envelope out of its claw and flipped it over. In strange glittering green ink was the strangest address that they had ever seen.

_Hatake Kakashi_  
_Training Field_ _Seven_  
_Hidden Village of the Leaf_  
_Konoha_  
_Fire Country_

"What the heck?" Sasuke gasped. "How in the hell could anyone know something like that?"

"Let's find out"

With slow ease as if he were defusing a bomb, Kakashi flipped the letter back over and tore of the strange wax seal that kept it shut. Reaching in, he removed one of the many letters within and began to read out loud.

**_HOGWARTS SCHOOL_**  
**_of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_**  
_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_  
_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,_  
_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)_  
_Dear Hatake Kakashi_  
_I know that you must be very confused with the exact deposit and style of this letter, but please except and continue to read. My name is Albus Dumbledore and I am a rather old friend of the Sandaime. I reveal to you that I, as well as my people are not Shinobi, but rather Wizards – another race that uses their chakra in other ways. I have already spoken with him on the matter that I will be presenting to you and your three pupils. As of the last year it has become apparent to me that three of my own school's many students are in desperate need of not just wizarding magics, but of the shinobi magics as well._  
_The hopes of both the Sandaime and I are that you would be willing to make a switch. It has been agreed that your pulps would benefit from a year of training in the wizarding ways just as much as mine would in the shinobi way. If you have any other questions regarding this letter, please speak to the Hokage and then send your reply as to wither your pupils would be willing to come and that you would be willing to train those they shall be replaced with. Thank you for your time._  
_Albus Dumbledore_

"Whoa…" Naruto muttered after Kakashi finished reading.

"Yeah…" Sakura added with a quick nod.

"What are we going to do?" Sasuke asked.

Kakashi finally looked up.  
"We'll go speak with the Hokage"

Two hours later found Team Seven once again back in their training field, but this time even more confused then the last. The Sandaime had been able to confirm to them that the letter had not been a hoax, but rather an opportunity of a lifetime. So while Kakashi paced back an forth like a caged animal trying to decided what he thought would be best for his team as well as himself; Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura broke into the what remained of the envelope's contents.  
When a supplies list futtered out, Sasuke was the one to pick it up and begin to read.

**_HOGWARTS SCHOOL_**  
**_of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_**  
**_UNIFORM_**  
_Second-year students will require:_  
_Three sets of plain work robes (black)_  
_One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_  
_One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_  
_One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)_  
_Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags_  
_COURSE BOOKS_  
_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_  
_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 2) by Miranda Goshawk_  
_A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot_  
_Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart_  
_Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart_  
_Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart_  
_Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart_  
_Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart_  
_Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart_  
_Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart_  
_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander_  
_OTHER EQUIPMENT_  
_1 wand_  
_1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_  
_1 set glass or crystal phials_  
_1 telescope_  
_1 set brass scales_  
_Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad_

"Wicked!" Naruto cried as he snatched the list from Sasuke's hands.  
The Uchiha just glared at his hyper teammate as the he began to re-read the list. At the same time Sakura was going over another sheet of paper.

"What's that one about?"  
She looked up startled, surprised that he had asked her anything and that nicely.  
"Umm…" she flushed. "Its another letter that describes the three 'wizards' that we might be switched with.

"And…"

Now even Naruto was paying the pink haired girl his full attention.

"Well… there are two boys and a girl just like us" she smiled. "They seemed to have the same team qualities as us too, just a little mixed up. The girl's name is Hermione is from a small family that deals with medical care and her specialties lie in greatly in knowledge, ninjutsu and genjutsu. She is the wisest. The first boy's name is Ron, he comes from a large family and his specialists lie in tactics, as he is only moderate in ninjutsu and genjutsu. He's sort of clueless. The last boy's name is Harry, an orphan since he was one when his parents were murdered. He bares a curse mark on his forehead in the shape of a lightning bolt and his specialties lie in determination, ninjutsu, and genjutsu. He has a knack of always getting them all into trouble. And it also seems that they no nothing about taijutsu…"

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other. While the girl Hermione sounded a lot Sakura and the boy Ron sounded a lot like Naruto; the boy Harry sounded like both Naruto and Sasuke.

"So… what do you think?"

"I think we should do it!" Naruto announced with a foxy grin.

"It might be… interesting" Sasuke agreed with a nod. "And how about you?"

Sakura smiled again.  
"Definatly!"

They all heard a sigh from behind them and turned to see Kakashi standing there with his arms crossed.  
"Well if that's what you want, then I'll take on your three replacements from the year" he announced, though he didn't look very excited.

Naruto smiled and pumped a fist into the air.  
"Wizarding World, here we come!"


	2. Chapter 2 The Switching of Places

Chapter Two – The Switching of Places

It was the morning of July 31st in the town of Little Winning, England and a twelve-year-old dark haired boy named Harry Potter was still blissfully asleep. Although it was his birthday, he saw no need to wake up. It would only be hindered with chores that his horrible relives would end up giving him to suffer. He still slept as a small owl flew threw his open window with a letter in its beak and a bound scroll in its claws.

The bird looked down at the sleeping boy and was very angry that person that was supposed to receive its delivery wasn't even awake. So while it began to feel particularly nasty, the owl opened its beak and let out a deafening squawk right in his ear. Harry gave a cry of shock as he bolted upright and fell out of bed with a bang. He looked up with an irritated glare at the owl as he rubbed his bottom.

"I hope you enjoyed that" he hissed at it as he accepted the letter and scroll.

If the owl could have smirked, it would have.

Sighing as he got to his feet, Harry watched as the owl departed. Sitting back down, he opened the letter that was addressed to him in the regular Howarts style.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Potter,

It is my pleasure to announce that you and two others have been chosen to travel toJapan this year to be trained in Shinobi magic. On this year's worth of education, Ms. Hermione Granger and Mr. Ronald Weasley will accompany you to Konohagakura, the Hidden Village of the Leaf. This will be a transfer exchange that will last till the end of the school year.

The three students that will be replacing you and friends shall be Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto. These three will be placed in all of the classes that you would be taking this year and you will be taking theirs. Your team leader upon arrival shall also be theirs, a one Hatake Kakashi. He will becoming to fetch you tomorrow evening at 4:OO P.M. – please be ready. For further information, please send an owl. A list of supplies has been added.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress

After reading and re-reading the letter, Harry didn't even bother to read the attached list. Flopping back into bed, he could try to make sense of what he had just learned. Suddenly there was a banging at his door.

"Get up boy!"

Apparently Uncle Vernon had heard the noise.

"Yes Uncle Vernon" he called out as he picked himself up and changed.

By the time he made his way down to the kitchen, the rest of the Dursley family was already there. Dudley was wolfing down a plate of eggs while Aunt Petunia was sipping a cup of tea and Uncle Vernon was reading the morning paper. They paid him no heed as he entered and he knew that it had to be the best time to tell them.

"I'm leaving tomorrow"

Aunt Petunia almost choked on her tea.

"Where" she demanded, though her horse like face was already confirming that she knew – or thought she knew.

"Not to where you think Aunt Petunia" he smiled. "I've been accepted to go learn at a 'school' inJapan this year. No worries now, I wont be having anything to do with magic"

Uncle Vernon hissed when the word 'magic' was used like always, but you could see by the lack of burgundy in his meaty face that he was very much relived.

"So you won't be going to that school anymore?"

"Oh no, I'll be returning next year, but as for this one, I'll be in Japan"

"And why would someone like you be accepted anywhere?" Dudley asked through as full mouth.

Harry didn't bother to answer that question, but rather walked past and entered the back garden to start his daily chores. This was going to be a long day…

Almost twenty-four hours later, Harry could be found waiting on the front doorstep of Number 4 with his trunk and Hedwig perched beside him. He looked at his watch impatiently – 3:59 P.M…. hadn't it been that five minutes ago? The young wizard was just about to give up hope when he heard a faint pop and a swirl of smoke only two yards away.

Standing there was someone that Privet Drive had never seen the likes of before. He was tall with spiky sliver hair and looked to be about twenty six or eight years of age. He was dressed in dark blue with a green vest, a blue facemask and a headband with a strange symbol covering one eye.

"Are you Harry Potter?" he asked, his voice deep with a foreign ascent.

"Are you Hatake Kakashi?" Harry retorted without getting up.

"Wise you are boy to ask" he replied. "Yes I am Hatake Kakashi and just knowing that means I have found the right boy. Are you ready?"

Harry looked at his stuff and then back at the strange man who would be his new teacher.

"Umm… yeah…"

"Good. Lets go then"

Harry sighed, grabbed his trunk by the handle and dragged it towards Kakashi.

"So… what now?"

Kakashi looked down at him as he took his arm.

"We go get your friends"

Just then Hedwig flew down from her perch and landed on Harry's shoulder.

"Nice owl"

"Thanks"

At the same time Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto found themselves stumbling after the professor that had been sent to get them. After having experienced the worst mode of travel ever – one that had transported them through one fireplace to another – all three Genin found that they almost regretting agreeing to come.

"Will you wait up?" Naruto shouted as they tried to keep up with their guild.

"Time is of the essence children. I wait for no one" was the cold reply.

As they followed, they couldn't help but agree with each other that this man was one of the worst that they had ever met. Professor Severus Snape was by far creepy. Taller then Kakashi-sensei and at least twice his age, this man had long greasy hair, dark forbidding black eyes and a crocked nose. His icy attitude – one worse then Sasuke's – made them hope that out of all the teacher they would meet this year, that they would all be better then him.

"Through here"

They followed him though a crowed bar filled with strangely dressed people like him and out into a back ally.

"It's a dead-end" Naruto smiled dully.

"Shut up dobe" Sasuke snapped. "We are here for a reason"

"But Naruto's right" Sakura said as she waved at the wall. "It is a dead-end"

They three Genin turned to Snape. The older man rolled his eyes and extracted a long wooden rod from within his robes. He gave the wall a few taps of various bricks and then pulled back.

"Right about one thing Mr. Uchiha" Snape replied.

Before anyone could ask what was supposed to happen, the bricks suddenly began to pull in and out, rearranging themselves to form a doorway. Eyes wide the three kids gapped in wonder. That was nothing like what they could do.

"How did you do that?" Sasuke demanded. "I've never seen a ninjutsu or genjutsu do that before"

Snape sneered down at him.

"That's because it's not ninjutsu or genjutsu. Your people, save a few, have never learned the ways of wizarding magic or what is known in your language as kijutsu. Now come, we still have to get your supplies"

"Snape-sensei" Sakura piped up. "What is this place called?"

"Diagon Ally"

All Naruto could do was smile.

"Wicked!"

With a puff and a whirl of smoke, Kakashi had completed his mission. Beside him stood his three new pupils, all looking very disoriented from their trip. The boy named Ron with the furiously red hair look like he was about to upchuck from the displacement pressure. The girl Hermione with the large front teeth was practically jumping up and down with excitement of being here. And last the boy Harry with the strange curse mark on his forehead looked like he was almost glad to be not to still be at the place he had come from.

They quartet now stood in front of the gates of Konoha. It only took a matter of minutes for Kakashi to get the Anbu guards to let them pass and then it was into the village. The three young wizards (and witch) gazed around their new home for the year with wide eyes.

"Wicked" Ron breathed. "This is soo cool!"

"Ooh… all the stuff I can learn!" Hermione squealed, only to receive exasperated looks from her two best friends.

"And far away from Voldamort" Harry added.

Ron and Hermione gasped; causing Kakashi to look at him confused.

"Who's Voldamort?"

"Don't say that name," Ron hissed, shuddering all over.

A few villagers had stopped to look at them also. Unfazed by Ron's behavior, Harry grimaced.

"The Dark Lord that gave me this scar" he replied as he touched the mark. "He looks like a snake"

People all around them froze.

"He can control them too," Hermione added, having remembered what she read in Fall of the Dark Lord during the pervious school year.

"Oh great…" someone muttered. "Another person like Orochimaru"

It was only then that Harry realized that this exchange might not be the best thing after all.


	3. Chapter 3 Of Wands, New Wardrobes and Ra

Chapter Three – Of Wands, New Wardrobes and Ramen

There was the tinkling sound of a bell as Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura entered Ollivander's wand shop followed closely by Professor Snape. As the three young shinobi looked around the dusty shop, they couldn't help but feel a strange mixture of dismay and excitement. After all the strange things they had seen since entering Diagon Ally, they weren't sure what to expect from here.

Seconds later a tall rail of an old man with wiry white hair came out of that back from among the many, many stacks of wands.

"Good afternoon Severus, and what are we here for today?"

Although he was speaking with their guide, the older man's ageless eyes were watching them with hawk like precision. As much as it made Naruto and Sakura feel uneasy, it made Sasuke feel as though the man could see through all of his shields… and maybe he could. To say the least, it made the boy feel naked.

"These are the three Shinobi exchange students from Asia that will be coming to Hogwarts this year. They need wands"

"Very well"

Mr. Ollivander motioned for them to come forth. Taking a wand in hand from out of a box, he handed it towards Sakura.

"Ladies first. Ash and dragoon heartstring, 11 inches – whippy"

Sakura flashed the boys a look of triumph as she took the wand. Feeling sort of foolish, she gave the wand a little twirl. But then suddenly she felt a wave of chakra shoot out from her body, into the wand and out the tip, causing a small fire erupted on the front desk. Scared witless, the pink hair girl surrendered the wand as fast as she could.

"How about this one" Mr. Ollivander sighed as he took the first wand and handed her another. "Cherry and unicorn hair, 7 ¼ inches – pliable"

This time thinks went much better. Sakura didn't feel as if the chakra was being torn from her, but a gentle tingle as a burst of illusionary cheery blossoms showered the air.

"Bravo young lady" the old shopkeeper smiled.

"Umm sir, I felt something both times…. What was that?" she asked uncertainly.

The man smiled again.

"To help you understand, what you felt was your own chakra being focused through the wand. Most wizards don't even notice it, but as shinobi, you are more focused on your powers. And I must say that you have wonderful control over it too – everyone that doesn't find the wand that's right for them the first time around usually cause even bigger disasters"

Sakura smiled back. 'I am soo good!' she cheered to herself while Inner Sakura added 'Beat that!'

Next Mr. Ollivander handed a wand to Sasuke.

"Hawthorn and dragon heartstring, 14 inches – nasty with curses"

Taking the wand, Sasuke followed Sakura's example and twirled the wand. Unlike her, his was perfect from the start. A great shower of red and sliver sparks burst forth, forming what looked the fan of the Uchiha clan crest. Smirking at both his teammates, the pale boy stepped away from the counter.

"My, my…" Mr. Ollivander smiled again. "Not many people find the right wand on the first try. Well done lad"

The last one left was Naruto, who was nearly bursting at the chance to try himself.

"Elder and dragon heartstring, 10 ½ inches – good with charms"

The blonde took the wand and waved it, only to duck as the shop's front window sudden exploded. The second wand he tried caused an earthquake to rattle the shop; the third caused a miniature tsunami boxes and papers to be whipped around. The forth caused a small storm burst to appear and start raining over Sasuke's head (that wasn't bad at all) and all the rest to follow was making poor Mr. Ollivander to be very frustrated.

After the thirtieth wand, Naruto was about to give up. Sasuke kept pocking fun at him every time the wands wend crazy and it was begging to make him feel very disheartened. Maybe he wasn't cut out for learning kijutsu. But then Mr. Ollivander came out of the back of the shop with a very dusty wooden box that was covered in cobwebs.

"Now," the elderly wizard began. "This is a very rare wand. By letting you try it, I am taking the risk that it might have enough power to kill you"

Naruto gulped whereas Sasuke and Sakura didn't bother to listen to what was to be said next, but rather made a mad dash to hide behind an upturned table with their ears plugged.

"It is rare" the wizard continued. "Because it was created many hundreds of years ago when wizard wand makers were still working with trying to combine the essence of two magic creature – a very unstable undertaking. But in all my years I have never met anyone with the amount of power that you have. I have faith in you that this wand was meant for you alone"

Naruto reached out a shacking hand and took the proffered wand.

"Yew, phoenix feather and the tail hair of a youki fox, 9 inches – extremely powerful"

The blonde's insides froze, but his hand began to move without his permission. When Mr. Ollivander had said that it contained demon fox hair and it was nine inches long, Naruto knew that it wasn't just a coincident. This time when the wand's power burst forth, it was unlike anything to come before it. Golden light filled the air and wrapped itself around him like a protective shield, keeping out all things that would do him harm.

Then he found himself face to face with the Kyuubi. The great demon fox looked just as shocked as the boy felt by what had happed and it wasn't that its cage had completely vanished. The two just stood there together in what seemed to be the first moment of peace within the subconscious of Uzumaki Naruto. Smiling Naruto looked up at the Kyuubi and the Kyuubi, for the first time ever smiled back.

Suddenly he was back in the real world within Ollivander's wand shop with Sasuke and Sakura to buy their own wands. He turned around to see that his two teammates where staring at him, mouths agape.

"What?" he managed squeak as a deep flush began to rise to his cheeks.

"Beautiful…" Sakura murmured.

Sasuke for once was speechless.

After paying for their wands, they began to follow Snape out of the shop, but Naruto alone was stopped by Mr. Ollivander.

"Yes…?"

"That was amazing child" the old man beamed, his eyes glittering. "I hope that wand has made not only you, but your guest happy too"

"How did you…"

"Know?" the wizard laughed. "Only the fact that all wands react to the creature that their essences have come from. I do believe that the both of you will do great things – great things"

Thanking Mr. Ollivander one last time, Naruto exited the shop and rushed to catch up with the others. When he finally caught up, he was quizzed on why he had stayed behind, but he managed to lie smoothly that the old shopkeeper had just told him to take extra special care of his new wand. So as the quartet made their way through Diagon Ally, it was Snape that broke the silence first.

"Its time to buy your robes children… and I daresay some new cloths too" the dark professor growled.

They looked down at their cloths.

"What's wrong with our cloths?"

Snape looked at Sasuke and Sakura, but wrinkled his nose when he looked at Naruto.

"Orange of that color isn't in the dress code"

"But I like orange!"

Elsewhere, the same thing was happening.

"Hermione! They're killing me!"

That was Ron. His voice rose up from behind a curtain set up in the Hokage's office in Konoha. The three young wizards had been taken to meet the Sandaime, but while the meeting had gone well, getting fitted into their new cloths wasn't. The hokage was leaning back in his chair smile at the red headed boy's antics. While the well-mannered Hermione had been well behaved when she was fitted, this boy was not. It was a transformation of sorts. When the bushy haired girl had stepped out from behind the curtain, you could no longer tell that she was a witch, but looked as though she had been shinobi all her life.

The girl was now dressed in tight dark blue Capri-like pants that came down to he knees, a light green Chinese style shirt much like Tenten's, her hair had been tamed and braided down he back, while she sported arm proctors the same color as he pants.

"Done!"

Ron was shoved out from behind the curtain and without warning Harry was dragged in. the transformation of the youngest Weasley boy was just as shocking. He was now sporting dark green shorts and a baggy fawn colored jacket reminiscent to that of Team Eight. His wild red hair looked very disheveled as he had nearly fought with the lady that had dressed him.

"How's it going Harry?" he called, but was greeted with no answer.

"Harry?"

The curtain swung open to reveal the most startling transformation of all. After having shed his too baggy hand-me-down cloths, Harry looked like someone new. Clad in medium red short, a long sleeved shirt of dark red with back ribbing and a knee length coat of golden brown that had the arms cut off well before the elbows. These new cloths accented in skin tone, making him appear healthy then before and his raven hair, which the lady had tried to tame, was now messed up at the back and calm at the front. It was only the Sandaime and Kakashi that could see an unnerving resemblance to Sasuke save for the glasses that adorned his face.

"So… how do I look?" he asked rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

Before Hermione stop herself; 'hot' was the first word to pass over her lips.

"Very good Harry" Ron smiled, gritting his teeth while casting a glare at Hermione for not having comment on him like that.

"Good, good" the Sandaime Sarutobi smiled and clasped his hands together. "Now its time to talk about schooling. For the next month you three will have to attend Academy classes to even be considered fit to work on a team"

While Harry and Ron groaned, Hermione was practically fidgeting with excitement.

"Tomorrow Kakashi will introduce you to your sensei for the month. You may go now"

Ushering the three young wizards out of the office, Kakashi couldn't help but snicker. As the exited the tower, his stomach grumbled and was soon answered by three more.

"Well kids I'm hungry, so what would like to eat?" he asked. "One time only since this is your first day"

"Umm… what is there?" Harry asked as they wandered down the streets of the village.

"Well…" Kakashi though, but was soon cut off by Ron.

"What about that place?"

The redhead was pointing at a very familiar place – Ichiraku's.

"That sells ramen"

"What's that?"

Herminoe sighed. "Noodles Ron, noodles"

"Let's go there then!"

Shaking his head, Kakashi lead the three over. When they sat down, an old man came up looking very distraught.

"What's wrong Ichiraku?" Kakashi asked.

"My best customer is gone for a year!" the old man cried exasperatedly. "I'll go bankrupt before he ever returns"

"Well that was Naruto for you" he smiled thinking about his pupil's obsessive love for the noodles. "But I know these three would like to try some"

"Well then, they can have some"

Minutes later they found themselves enjoying a nice meal.

"Wow" Ron said through a mouthful. "This stuff is good!"

Ten minutes later, Ron had finished his fifteenth bowl. People had stopped to watch the spectacle, surprised that there was anyone that liked ramen as much as Naruto.

"Thanks" the boy smiled happily as he patted his stomach. "Too bad you were just giving up a one timer"

Hearing that, everyone sweatdropped.


	4. Chapter 4 A Sorting Ceremony to

Chapter Four – A Hogwarts Sorting Ceremony to Remember

"How much longer is this going to take?" Sakura hissed impatiently as she sifted uncomfortably in her new robes.

"Not much longer… I hope" Sasuke growled as he tapped his foot.

"Well there are lots of students here," Naruto added. "Probably more people in this whole castle then all of Konoha!"

September the 1st signaled a first of many things. For Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura, it was their first official day as Hogwarts students. The last month had taken what seemed like forever for the three as they had been forced to complete the required First Year in less then thirty days. It was only thanks to Sakura that they even managed to pass at all. The month had been a hell as they passed from one teacher to the next, learning as much as they could before they where given the time to go off around the castle to enjoy some 'extracurricular' activities. It had been the ghosts that scared them the most. Since the spirits of the dead did not linger back where they came from, it was a nasty shock to see those that did.

But as fate would have it, within a week Naruto had befriend the school's wretched poltergeist Peeves and together they caused all the mischief they could make. It was also then that Professor McGonagall had dubbed Sakura her favorite in Hermione's absence and Sasuke, who didn't want the help of other, had nearly fallen off the moving staircases fifty times (saving himself only for the fact that he knew how to walk on walls).

"So many people…" Sasuke muttered.

"Hey Sasuke, do you think there's someone worse then you here?" Naruto snickered.

A loud smack resounded as the dark haired shinobi cuffed him upside the head.

"Behave you two!" Sakura snapped, not wanting the two to get her into any trouble.

So now as they waited for the sorting ceremony that they had been told about with all of the new First Years to start, and with nothing better to do, each of them was scanning the other children seated at the four different tables. It was when Naruto's eyes fell on a pair that resembled cold steel did he know that he would have another rival here other then Sasuke. The boy he was staring at was about their age with hair so blonde it was nearly white and a face that clearly showed that it thought it was better then anyone else. He glared and the boy glared back, electricity nearly crackling on the air. The only thing that caused the two to brake the connection was when a mouth had opened upon the hat's brim and a voice began to sing.

Once a long, long time ago I was crisp and new

There was magic in the world came to us like morning dew

There were those that embraced its gifts and others that caused great rifts

Then there came the time that brought upon a mighty spilt.

Seeking safety and a place of learning, four young wizards came

To build the walls of this great school to teach those just the same

It was their hopes that with this power, magic would remain

But with those with blinded eyes it seemed could never truly gain.

The first was wise and beautiful, the crafty Ravenclaw

And with her talents she brought great knowledge to those that followed her ways

The second was daring and courageous, the mighty Gryffindor

And with his sword he fought great foes that wished to strike them down

The third was just and gentle, the loyal Huffelpuff

And with her love for everyone she accepted all and all

The fourth was sly and cunning, the venomous Slytherin

And with his lust for power wrought a place for those who seek his ends

So together they did stand as forces to be reckoned with

They taught the youth of generations new the skills of Nature's offering

And learn the children did from them, dividing four on four

The true path lost and darkness nigh would brake their hopes another day.

So here I am since they did fall, a hat to carry on their ways

I sort those out by what in your hearts and those who bare a piece of them inside

And into the house of the Hogwarts Four shall I send you

Because I am the Sorting Hat!

The Great Hall erupted into shouts and whistles as everyone applauded. Sasuke looked sick – what the hell was that thing going to do? He watched as the first student was called forth, sat on the stool before staff table and had the hat placed onto they're head. It was only a minute before the hat's mouth opened again and 'Slytherin' was yelled out for all to hear.

And as it went, all those who had the hat placed on their heads where sent to one of the four tables. After an agonizingly long wait, it was finally down to just them three. Standing, the tall imposing headmaster waved his arms to silence the hall, and it fell dead instantly.

"I know," the elderly man began. "That many of you might be wondering where three of our Second Years students have gotten to. I am proud to announce that Hermione Granger along with Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley were accepted to take part in an exchange program toJapan this school year"

The hall broke out into many whispers.

"As they have left till next years time, these three who stand before you have taken their places. As they will be entering the Second Year, they have been left for last in this special extended sorting"

The whispers continued as the first of them was called.

"Haruno, Sakura!"

Sakura flushed as she left Sasuke and Naruto's side for the hat, oblivious to the whispers about what the other students thought of her outrageous bubble gum pink hair. As the hat was set down upon her head, the Great Hall vanished.

Within her head she stood side by side with Inner Sakura facing what looked like an elf.

"Who are you?" she asked uncertainly.

"An intruder!" Inner Sakura shrieked, almost ready to throw herself on the elf.

The elf looked down at itself and chuckled – it had the same voice as the hat!

"Well this is quite amazing young one' it snickered. 'I never met anyone who has created a body for me when I come within their mind to evaluate and decide which house it is that they belong. I am your imagination's representation of the Sorting Hat and to answer to your alter ego, I am not an intruder"

Inner Sakura just huffed and shacked a fist at it. "Then you better make this snappy!"

"Very well" it sighed dejectedly. "I see great things with this mind of yours. You have a loving heart that sometimes leads you to make the wrong choices in life. You have eyes for seeing and learning great things, but sometimes you'd better off be blind. I a great strength within you child, but you yourself do not. As it is my job to sort all Hogwarts students, I see two houses in which you would do greatly"

"What are those?"

"You mind suits Ravenclaw as that is where those with intelligence lie. But your heart suits Gryffindor as it shows that you have a great courage as to not give up or give into the hardships that you have faced"

"So…" Sakura finally asked. "Where do you think I belong?"

The Sorting Elf looked at her fondly for a few moments before it…

Sakura was suddenly back in the real world again as the hat on her head yelled out 'Gryffindor!'Shaking, the pink hair kunochi hopped off the stool and made her way for her new table without even looking at her teammates let alone hear what was said next.

"Uchiha, Sasuke!"

Now it was Sasuke's turn to go try on the hat. He ignored all the voices that followed him up to the stood and it was almost a blissful relief when that all vanished as soon as the sorting hat was on his head. The landscape of his mind was as his mind, dark and cold. Standing not too far away was…

"Father?"

"Is that the body in which you have given me?" the man asked. "No child, I am not. I find it rather strange that you have given me such a personal form – I am only the Sorting Hat you know"

Sasuke took a step back.

"What are you talking about?" he demanded.

"I mean boy that in order for you to see me, your own imagination has manifest a physical form for you to see. Your subconscious has chosen that of your sire because he is a one of many keys to your locked heart"

The pale boy growled. His insides were boiling with unease as he looked at the Sorting Man. It gave him the creeps.

"So do you wish for me to sort you or not?"

"Huh?" Sasuke gapped. "I don't know what you are talking about"

"Oh, but I think you do" the man sighed. "You have a locked heart in which I can not enter and it is rotting from lack of use"

The young shinobi's eyes widened at the man's/hat's bluntness at striking the matter on its head.

"I…I…" Sasuke stammered.

"Well?"

Without knowing why, the boy unlocked his heart.

"Such tragedy and pain I see in here" the man said after a few moments of silence. "You have held on to it for so long that it clouded your judgment. I see a mind that lusts for nothing more then revenge – revenge for all that you have lost and the pain that you have felt. I foresee that it will destroy you. If one day you manage to kill your bother, you will only end up becoming him. Is that really what you want?"

Sasuke had no answer.

"I see that path lead you towards that of Slytherin, where those of cunning and darkness of heart lay in wait to blacken the world. But within your heart of I see a lost and frightened child, one that has been brave and has held on to life even when it has all seemed pointless to move on… therefore I shall be placing you in…"

Sasuke came awake again as the Sorting Hat yelled out 'Gryffindor!' With a heavy heart that felt oddly strange within his chest, Sasuke dismounted the stool and strode off in Sakura's direction. At the same time, Naruto was nearly bursting for his chance to try on the hat.

"Uzumaki, Naruto!"

The blonde bounced up the stairs so fast that he and the stool almost toppled over when he sat down. He only caught a quick glance of Sakura talking with a couple of girls and Sasuke staring at the plate in front of him before it all faded away.

"Holy shit!"

Naruto jumped and turned around to find himself again within the dreamscape of his mind that caged the Kyuubi, and founding himself looking directly into the wide eyes of… himself.

"Bloody hell boy, if I had known that your body contained two minds, I wouldn't have bothered to enter it!"

"Are – are you the Sorting Hat?" he asked his replica.

A soft amused sort came out of the cage behind him.

"What else would it be" the Kyuubi muttered from behind the bar of it cage. "Only something with power like it's could have gotten into this room"

"True, true" it smiled. "Not even the two before where so quick to figure that out"

"Thanks…"

The clone grinned Naruto's foxy grin before adopting a more puzzled expression that was normal to see on the boy's face.

"Well now… how should I go about sorting you? You have given me your own body for manifestation and I look into your heart and mind, but it is skewed by that of the Lord Kyuubi"

The fox smirked at the use of the high title – he hadn't had anyone call in that in so long.

"Oh you are worth then manifestation" the fox smiled. "I shall withdraw as much of my power within this boy as possible so that you made judge him solely by who he is without my influence"

Naruto turned and stared at the Kyuubi with his mouth hanging agape. The fox had never been that nice to anyone before, especially when he was concerned. Maybe something had changed since coming here…

The air suddenly became vacuum-like in pressure as the fox withdrew and boy and his clone remained the only things with the room save for the mist that locked the Kyuubi out.

"Dear me…" the clone sighed. "Another broken heart. I see a soul that has suffered great hardships since the moment it was born into the world. Unlike your two companions, I know where you belong without even having to look deeper. I see the bravery it took you to stand up to those who persecute you and the courage it took to be the better person. You are very noble and are will to give your life for anyone that has become precious to you – be careful that it is not used against you one day"

"So does that mean I'll be in…"

Naruto never got to finish what he was saying as he suddenly found himself before the entire school as the Sorting Hat was yelling out the last piece of it – 'Gryffindor!' He was just getting down from the stool as the hat was being removed when he distinctly heard a voice coming from the table with the snake banner hanging over it.

"Now that Potter and his pathetic little friends are gone things will be much better around here. All we have to do is make sure that those new twerps replacing don't get in the way"

Naruto caught the eye of the gray-eyed boy once again as he made his way towards the table that Sakura and Sasuke had gone. That boy was going to be a problem – he just knew it. He broke contact as he reached the Gryffindor table and found that there was no empty seats left.

"Umm…" he flushed.

"Hey George, move over" a voice said to his right.

As he looked over, he saw an older boy with flaming red hair wave him over.

"You can sit here mate" he smiled.

"Yeah, we don't mind!" said the boy beside him, who it turned out looked exactly like him

Taking his chance before he lost it, Naruto seated himself between the two boys.

"Hi, I'm Fred Weasley" the first boy grinned. "And this is my twin brother George"

"Hey!" Naruto gasped as the name clicked somewhere in his head. "Are you brothers with one of the boys that me and my friends traded places with?"

"Yep!" the second boy, George nodded. "And we're glad too – Ron's a pain"

And before Naruto could say anything else, twin grins of evil graced the two older boy's faces.

"So… do you like pranks?"


	5. Chapter 5 A Late Start for Team Seven 2

Chapter Five – A Late Start for Team Seven 2.0

"How much longer is he going to be?" Hermione growled as she paced back and forth from her place on the bridge near the Team Seven training field.

"Well he is a teacher Herm" her redheaded friend Ron shrugged nonchalantly from where he sat with his legs dangling over the edge. "He rights to be late you know"

"BUT NOT THREE HOURS LATER!"

The first day of September meant other things too. This day signaled for Harry, Ron and Hermione their first official day as team genin of Konoha. Over the past months they had worked their butts off under the instruction of Umino Iruka, their teacher at the Academy. If it hadn't have been for Hermione, they would have failed and failed bad. But with as such went, they managed to find where their strengths lay fast. Being confined to things such as studying didn't leave the three young wizards much time to do anything they would have like, things like going out into the village and meeting the other kids their age and the other teams that end up meeting anyway.

But as fate would have it, within a week of their arrival, they were already well known for something. Ron had become Naruto's replacement as Konoha's loudest ramen obsessed ninja (having filled every cupboard he could weasel his way into stashing the stuff in the small apartment that the three of them shared). For Hermione it seemed had became an official fangirl, but for non other then poor Iruka, while Harry was know for always avoiding the villagers and their eyes – always looking at his scar and whispering unintelligible things that caused the boy's back to crawl.

"I'm going to kill him… I really mean it" Hermione began to mutter.

"Don't you think that's a bit much Hermione?" Harry sighed as he came onto the bridge from the field.

"Oh not at all mate! Our little bookworm has a killing streak" Ron snickered.

A loud smack resounded as the brown haired witch decked him one, causing him to let out a yelp and fall into the water with a splash.

"Please settle down you two" Harry groaned, wanting nothing more then to just get started.

Well those didn't seemed to be like the right words because Hermione ceased her pacing and took off towards the trees, her last straw finally snapped. Seconds later a sopping wet Ron was right behind her. Harry could only roll his eyes and follow along; hoping that whatever happed wouldn't have repercussions on them later.

At the same time however, Kakashi was only just waking up. Refreshed from a good night's sleep and pleasant dreams in which he was a main character from his favorite book Come, Come, Paradise, the jonin couldn't have been happier. As he left his house to search out his new team, he didn't even bother to check and see what time it was. He was only concerned with seeing what these three were capable of. He hadn't really seen any of them since they started at the Academy, but had heard the rumors that had been circulating around the village for over the last month. Little did he know, that he didn't know enough…

"Shika, what time is it?"

"A quarter to noon"

"Does that mean we get to eat soon?"

"Yes Choji"

For Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Choji, it was just another day of training – meditation in fact. They had all been doing well, each focused on what was most important to them at that moment. Shikamaru reveled in silence of getting to do nothing, Ino sulked over that fact that she wouldn't get to see Sasuke in over a year and Choji was thinking about what he would be eating for lunch when they completed their morning session.

"So… do you know when we'll be seeing Asuma-sensei today?" Ino asked as stood up, stretching out a kink in her back.

Shikamaru opened his eyes and looked up at the blonde kunochi with a frown.

"Does it matter?" he yawned.

"Yes!"

"Fine. He told me last night that he was going to see Kakashi this morning. Something about the kids that make up the new Team Seven"

"Do you know anything about them?" Choji asked as he dug around for a bag of chips that he had brought along.

Shikamaru sighed.

"Only rumors" he replied. "The girl is supposed to be extremely smart and good at almost all jutsus but taijutsu, while the two boys would be formidable opponents too – and they just finished at the Academy and they were only there a month!"

"Hmm… I wonder when we'll get to meet them?"

As if on cue, someone suddenly shot past Ino out of the trees, almost casing the girl to fall over.

"What the –"

Then another person shot by, this time making her fall on her rump.

"Hermione! Please stop! You can't be serious!" the second person cried it chased after the first.

Suddenly the first person came to a dead stop and grabbed the second by they're shit collar and yanked.

"If you don't want to die Ron, don't get in my way!" the first, who was a girl with medium length braided brown hair and dressed similar to Tenten snarled menacingly.

"But Hermione – " the second, who was a boy with short flaming red hair dressed similar to Kiba struggled with fright in the girl's grip.

While the girl ranted loudly in the boy's face, both oblivious to the presence of Ino, Shikamaru and Choji, the members of Team Ten just stood in slack-mouthed shock at this odd invasion of their training grounds.

"Umm Shika, what should we do about this?" Ino leaned over and whispered into Shikamaru's ear.

"Obviously we get rid of them" the lazy brunette answered, eyes gleaming.

"Yeah!" Choji smiled at his dull friend's sudden enthusiasm.

"Ron! Hermione! Stop this right now!" a voice yelled.

Turing, Team Ten saw yet another person came out of the trees. This time the person wasn't running, but rather deliberately walking. It was a bespectacled boy with raven hair and cloths almost resembled Anko's.

Ino's jaw dropped.

"Will you please just give it a rest?" the boy asked as he past them.

"But Harry, she's gone mad" the red haired boy complained.

Back with Team Ten, Ino was drooling, little hearts floating around her head while Choji stared at her and Shikamaru glared.

"Who's he?" Ino mumbled dreamily, her hands clasped together as she began to sway back and forth.

"So do we attack?" Choji asked his Shikamaru, now very uncertain due to his single female teammate's behavior.

"Of course!" Shikamaru growled.

But as he stepped forward, Ino bopped him over the head.

"Don't you dare Nara Shikamaru!" the blonde hissed. "I don't really care about those other two, but they must be that boy's friends"

"And why do you care?"

"Because that boy is a god! Jade eyes to die for and looks to kill!"

Both boys sweatdropped, although Shikamaru was still glaring.

"What about Sasuke?"

"Who's here right now?" Ino demanded. "Sasuke is thousands of miles away in one of the Unknown Countries while this hunk is within arm's reach!" And ignoring her two teammate's protests, the blonde rushed over to meet to them.

"Hi!"

Harry, Ron and Hermione turned from their bickering to see a pretty blonde running towards them. Surprised that they hadn't noticed the presence of others, as they could see the two boys that were still standing not far behind her.

"Hi…" Harry smiled as she stopped in front of him, grinning ear to ear in a silly girly like way.

"I'm Ino, Yamanaka Ino" she announced. "And those two behind me, who are far to degraded to be decent enough to come and talk are my teammates Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji"

"Well I'm Harry, Harry Potter and these are my friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger" he forced himself to grin back, feeling rather timid as he looked into her eyes that screamed 'predator'.

Ron and Hermione said hello as well, but it seemed that Ino wasn't interested in them, but rather only had eyes for him. Inwardly, Harry whimpered.

"Hey Ino" Shikamaru said as he stepped between her and Harry as he suddenly sensed the new boy's discomfort. "Give the boy a brake. I know that you already have plans for staring a 'International We Love Harry Potter Association Of The Village Of Konoha', but you don't need to torment him now"

"Your only jealous" she snapped.

"YO!"

All six kids turned now to see that Kakashi had appeared in the field only yards away form them.

"YOU'R LATE!" Hermione shrieked and threw herself at him.

Kakashi blanched at the use of Sakura and Naruto's favorite line as the girl suddenly wrapped her hands around his neck.

"THREE HOURS LATE ON OUR FIRST DAY!" she screamed with rage. "HOW DARE YOU?"

"I – I got attacked by – by dust bunnies as I was leaving home!" he choked, truing to shake her iron grip.

"LIER!"

It was only when Harry and Shikamaru managed to find the guts to tackle an enraged girl did they manage to subdue Hermione and save Kakashi. The jonin looked very shocked as he stared down at the panting girl that anyone had managed to catch him by surprise like that before.

"Well…"

He had just been about to say something when a tawny owl swooped down from the treetops with a red envelope clutched in its talons addressed to him. While none of them had any idea what it was, especially Ino, Shikamaru and Choji since they had never seen post delivered by owls, Ron did. The redhead's eyes widened in shock, but kept his emotions contained.

"I don't think you should open…" he advised, slowly starting to back away.

"Why?" Kakashi asked as he flipped it over, not even noticing his new pupil's strange behavior.

"Well don't tell me I didn't warn you"

Ron suddenly turned and bolted for the nearest tree as the silver haired man began to open the letter, dragging Harry and Hermione with him. As the seal on the envelope was released, the worst sound ever escaped it – Haruno Sakura's voice.

"HATAKE KAKASHI, YOU WERE LATE THIS MORNING WEREN'T YOU? HOW DARE YOU MAKE OUR REPLACEMENTS WAIT ON THEIR FIRST DAY! DO YOU EVER LEARN? NO YOU DON'T"

The pink haired kunochi's voice ran blistering loud through the field, so load in fact that it shook trees, houses and other objects all over Konohagakure. People all over the village had to stop and press hands to their ears to protect themselves from the on slot.

"YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DESERVE? THE BEST PUNISHMENT FOR YOU WOULD BE THAT THESE THREE ARE HARDER ON YOU THEN NARUTO, SASUKE AND I EVER WERE! SO FROM NOW ON YOU BETTER BE ON TIME, OR I'LL BE SENDING YOU THESE 'WONDERFUL' LITTLE WAKEUP CALL EVERY MORNING! GOT THAT YOU PATHETIC PERVERT?"

Once finished, the letter tore itself into tiny pieces and then burst into flames. Silence hung again over the Hidden Village of the Leaf like a plague after that. It was only broken minute later with hysterical laughter. After Ron had finished bursting a gut and looked up through watery eyes all the glaring eyes staring down at him, he smiled.

"That went well"


	6. Chapter 6Where a Prophecy Leads…

Chapter Six – Where a Prophecy Leads…

"Hello…? Is anyone there?"

His voice echoed back at him from across the barren wasteland of thick unseeing mist. Naruto turned, trying to see the unfathomable white that was everywhere, but did not prevail.

"Hello?"

His head snapped around as voice finally spoke up. Someone else was here.

"Who's there?" he called out into the abyss.

"Is someone out there?" the voice asked as it drew closer.

Out of the mist and clouds stepped a figure dressed in red and gold, it appeared human and that fact was confirmed as soon as the mist cleared. It was a boy his age with large frightened green eyes that could have rivaled Sakura's on a bad day.

"Who are you?" the boy suddenly asked as he spotted Naruto and took a step back.

"Hey! I asked you first!" Naruto protested, crossing his arms.

"No you didn't"

"Yes I did"

"No you did not"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"I'm Naruto"

"I'm Harry"

They were quite for a few moments, their words finally dawning in the other's minds.

"Then that means your one of the kids me and my partners switched with right?"

Naruto felt a way of relief wash through him as the boy, Harry, nodded eagerly in response.

"Nice to meet you" Harry smiled.

Well that wasn't by any means what the blonde fox vessel was expecting - someone whom was friendly from the start.

"So… do you where we are?" he asked.

"Not a clue. I was kinda hopping you would"

"Just great… Hermione's going to kill me"

"Oh don't worry" Naruto laughed as he looked back into the mist. "I think we're dreaming"

"But the same thing at the same time?" Harry asked.

"Stranger things have been known to happen right?"

"Right…"

Looking at each other, they knew that they at least had one thing in common. Turning back to the mist they found that it had taken on an icy quality, causing their breaths to come out in bursts of steam.

"Okay…" Harry whispered. "This isn't good…"

"You think?"

Without bother the see if they were on the same page, they both bolted into the mist, seeking a way out or away from what ever they sensed was behind them. The mist began to take the shapes of blurry black figures that were moving into to surround them, cutting off any hopes of escaping. Suddenly Naruto tripped over some unseen object and came crashing down to the ground head first. Seconds later Harry crashed down on top of him, knocking the wind right out of his lungs.

Wheezing slightly, Naruto pushed Harry off of him and looked up at the figures that now loomed over them.

"It is time…" A voice whispered to them.

"It is time…" a chorus echoed.

"T-time for what?" Harry

"Time for you to understand…"

Naruto snorted.

"Enough with the cryptic please, I –"

He would have continued, but Harry jabbed him in the ribs with a glare.

"I don't really think we should piss the off… whatever they are" the raven haired wizard hissed.

"So what are we suppose to understand?"

"Everything…"

And with those words Naruto suddenly felt an immense pain, which of blind agony tare through his stomach. As he cried out in shock, clutching his stomach, he found that Harry had done the same. The green eyed youth was holding his head tightly, tears leaking from his tightly closed eyes.

"W-what's happening" he moaned, his fear mirrored by his companion as the looked up again at the figures.

"It is your connection to destiny which causes your distress…" the voices whispered.

And then the voices merged together, forming one that was, to both boys, the voice of an angel.

One Child born of Summer High,

One Child born of Winter Nigh,

Both of Fire and of Fate,

Forced so young through Destiny's Gate…

One Child barring Nature's Might,

One Child barring Evil's Sight,

Both of Innocence that was tainted,

Neither damned nor sainted…

Child of the Golden Stag,

The time has come to make your stand,

Beware of dimond eyes that lie,

That seek the way to make you die…

Child of the Golden Storm,

The time has come to raise your hand,

Beware of things that can't be seen,

That seek the way to capture thee…

Be wary of the Dying Ones,

Whom power comes from all and none,

So protect those precious to your heart,

Or Darkness shall weave its art…

The voice suddenly stopped and the figures disappeared, leaving the mist to turn blood red and suck the two startled boys up in to a hurricane vortex of their minds. Holding onto each others hands, Naruto and Harry could feel the force of the power raging around them being to pull them apart.

"D-don't let go!" Harry cried over the din as they began to drop at an alarming fast rate.

"I t-think I'm going t-to be sick!" the fox boy whimpered, his whole face turning green.

And then they began to spin faster and faster until their fingers parted and they where thrown screaming in opposite directions, not knowing where they would land…

Naruto woke up screaming and the very act causing him to unconsciously launch himself out of bed and come crashing down on the floor, two startled animals coming with him. The first was his own red and green pet toad Gama (named 'affectionately' after good old Gamabunta) and the other was Sasuke's pet cat Sazunami, a grouchy little midnight black tabby.

Panting and chocking, the profusely sweating Naruto looked up – and then wished he hadn't.

Standing over him was Sasuke. The pale boy looked extremely sleepy behind his pissed off and harassed expression, but with the world's worst bed head. It was down to inner turmoil for the blonde to wither he wanted to apologize for waking him… or burst out laughing.


	7. Chapter 7 …And One Begins to Understand

Chapter Seven - …And One Begins to Understand

"I am not crazy Hermione!"

A tired sigh followed that exclamation. Hermione sat at the kitchen table in the little apartment she shared with Harry and Ron, all the while watching Harry pace up a storm and saying nothing. Ever since the green eyed boy had told her and Ron about the dream he had had two days ago, they had been desperately trying to figure out what the 'prophecy' meant.

"Did I say you were?"

Even that didn't help to slow the boy. They hadn't gotten much out of their research other then the fact that there were at least fifteen figures in the verse that could represent people or possessions. Also since they received a letter form Naruto yesterday asking for help on the same thing made them want to figure it out all the faster.

"No… but Ron did"

"Hey, I was only trying to be helpful!"

Both Harry and Hermione turned and glared at their redheaded friend. Ron was currently perched up on the counter by the sink waiting impatiently for his three-minute wait until breakfast was up. Raman – hell he didn't seem to eat anything else.

Harry snorted with distaste. "I don't think that calling a person crazy really helps much"

"You'll get over it" Ron smirked with a small wave, and jumped down from the counter with a little dance as the time went off.

Hermione just sighed again.

"We'll figure it sooner or later, 'cause the way we worked together as a team last year let us keep Voldemort from returning to power"

Point for Hermione. Harry slowly stopped pacing the kitchen, hope retuning to his eyes as he sat down next to Ron who was busily slurping up his breakfast with zest. And as he did, something clicked.

"I think the first line is about me"

"Huh?" Hermione gapped. "What do you mean?"

"It said 'One child born of Summer High" - my birthday is July 31st and that's the height of summer!"

"So what about 'One child born of Winter Nigh'?"

"Umm… maybe it's Naruto"

"How so?"

"I don't know, just a hunch. Maybe we should ask in the next letter"

Hermione smiled and dug into her pocket. Pulling out her written version of the prophecy, she began writing in Harry's and Naruto's names next to the first two lines.

"Okay," she grinned. "Two down, thirteen more to go!"

Her grin widened as she turned towards an unsuspecting Ron.

"Wahat?" he garbled through food, swallowed and then repeated himself "What?"

"Three words 'Ronnykins' – Library. Research. Now"

And there was no way out of it for him either.

.-

Ten minutes later Ronald Weasley found himself looking through so many boring books, scrolls and old documents. While his research for anything revolving around Hermione's long list of things to find, he had picked up some pretty cool books about all sorts of different jutsus as well as some that explained in detail about the different bloodlines, active or dead, that some of the clans in Konoha possessed.

He was really interested in the Hyuuga clan bloodline of Byakugan and the Uchiha bloodline of Sharingan. Compared to the rest of the bloodlines in the village, these two were the coolest so far.

"I wish that I had something like that" he groused as he placed the book back and started on something else.

The red headed boy scrolled for the next ten minutes, finding nothing of fancy and so decided to once again crash in a chair for some R&R. This time, he was thinking about the new ninjutsu techniques that he had created (albeit the sever problems that he was still having with it. The Burning Cyclone technique or rather Nenshou Teikiatsu no Jutus, was his favorite. All he had to do was concentrate long enough and get the hand signs right and it would be prefect. Dragon, Tiger, Snake…

"Who are you?"

Ron snapped suddenly out of his daydream, shocked by the appearance of a boy that looked to be about nine years old looking at him. The kid had porcupine spiky brown hair, a pair of green goggles strapped to his forehead and wore a yellow t-shirt with the leaf symbol of Konoha in red on the front.

"Who are you?" he echoed.

"I asked you first" the kid protested and crossed his arms defiantly.

"Do you think I care?"

"… No"

"Then why do you persist?"

"Because I can"

"Well I think you just met your match squirt" Ron grinned. "'Cause I'm not going to budge"

The boy huffed.

"Fine then" he growled. "I'm Konohamaru"

"Oh… is that supposed to mean something to me?"

If it were at all possible, the kid's eyes enlarged ten times.

"You mean you don't know who I am?"

"Should I?"

"I like you!" Konohamaru smiled.

Ron sat back, away for the strange little boy.

"Why?" he asked, trying not to be nervous when he asked.

"Because! I'm the grandson of the Hokage and everyone treats me like I should be revered or something. I want to prove what I'm worth, not have it given to me. The only person who's ever seen me for me was Naruto-niisan and now he's gone of to some other country"

"Then I'm sorry" Ron replied. "Since I'm here, your friend isn't. It was my team that traded places with his…" he trailed off, thinking hard. "Wait a minute! You can help me!"

"I can?" Konohamaru asked uncertainly.

"Oh course! I was sent here by my teammate Hermione to get some information that we're going to be sending to Naruto. If I don't come back with any, she'll kill me"

"You mean that bossy chick with the bushy hair and the abnormally large front teeth?"

"Bingo"

"Ooh, I pity you" the boy winced.

"You have no idea" Ron sighed. "So can you help me? This place has turned up nothing"

Konohamaru paused, putting a hand to his mouth as he thought. Then a smile came to his face.

"Anything to help Naruto-niisan. How you like access to the Hokage's personal library?"


	8. Chapter 8 In Which the Villains Consort

Chapter Eight- In Which the Villains Consort and the Plot Thickens

Standing watch at their post by the village gate, two ANBU guards stared off into the night sky.

"This is not a good night" the first whispered to his companion.

"No, something is coming..." the second replied with a shiver.

"I do not like this, not at all"

"Nor do I"

And it was only a few hours later that an event which took president for the one of power in Hidden Sound Village took place. Fearsome warriors that fought under the command of their leader Orochimaru had coward back in fear when of the haunting specter in the shape of a man appeared out of nowhere in those late hours. No man or beast should have had that power over them save for their master, but yet this one did.

Ghastly red snake-like eyes very much akin to that of the Snake Sennin's gold burned into all that looked into them and for some it was like staring into the eyes of Death itself. When the disturbance was made known thought the village and Orochimaru finally arrived to see what the problem was another matter altogether. With an icy hard look upon his pale face, the Otokage of Hidden Sound wordlessly motioned for the creature follow. And for a first the Leaf traitor Kabuto was left behind by his lord, as this meeting was to be private.

Together they traveled down the darkened corridors of his lair. Only once had they ever been within close range of each other and it had not ended well. In a clash of power that had proved the strengths of both men with their individual gifts had set them apart. The creature it so turned out was Voldemort, Dark Lord of the Western magic as Orochimaru was the Snake Sennin of the Eastern magic. Both it would turn out in the aftermath to be the only surviving hairs of Salazar Slytherin, one from opposite decadences of the ancient wizard's twin sons.

Turning the corning and entering a secret room, it was only once the duo had entered Orochimaru's privet chambers did the creature speak.

"For one of such power, I would have thought you would be ruling the world by now" Voldemort hissed mockingly.

With a growl, the Snake Sennin finally turned to him. "I could save the same for you Thomas. Not looking very lively now do you"

The Voldemort's red eyes flashed dangerously as he retorted "I do not go by that name..."

Orochimaru smiled mirthlessly back at him.

"But that is the name I call you by. You have no respect of mine as I have none of yours. The only ties we have are blood of the Great Snake. Now tell me why you have 'honored' me with your vile presence and be gone"

"Still lacking of tact I see" the Dark Lord laughed. "Very well, I do know when I am not wanted. Had it not been for my... unfortunate 'condition', I would never have come"

"So you need my help?"

"Never! I have come to make a deal with you"

Both me stared silently at each other for a few long moments before former nodded. "And what would that be?"

There was almost a hint of humor in Orochimaru's voice as he spoke; much more that is then there was in Voldemort's.

"I know where the boy you seek is hiding" the latter smirked, fire in his eyes.

Thos simple words were what finally grabbed the younger snake's attention.

"You know where Uchiha Sasuke is?"

"Yes," Voldemort nodded. "And he is well out of your reach. Safe within the confines of our ancestor's school"

Orochimaru frowned. "But that is a school for Wizards and not that of Shinobi"

The elder of the pair only nodded.

"It appears that the fool Dumbledore has seen to that. I also seek a boy, the only blame for the way you see me now. He has been sent here, or I should say that he was sent to the Leaf"

"So it seems that old Saturobi-sensei plans to teach them new was of keeping us at bay..."

The spirit of the dark lord shimmered in the eerie light. A thin smile of displeasure stretched across his face and it caused his pale snake-like flash to pull taut over the bones.

"Yes... it would" Voldemort agreed. "Be thankful that your boy was not prophesied to bring about your doom. Mine has faced true death and survived when it should be impossible. Now I wish to make a deal"

"Then get on with it" Orochimaru snapped suddenly, his dark hair whipping around as he made his demand. "I do not like being played games with and if that's what you wish, then I would be most grateful to complete your journey by sending you strait to the Underworld"

"Don't be so hasty..." the elder chastised. A things come in do time. My deal is that you get for me the boy I seek and I'll get you yours"

"And how could I not do that myself?"

"The defenses cousin, all places have they're own defense. You know nothing of Hogwarts or I of Konoha. It would be far easier to capture our 'game' if we focused on where our strengths lie. Don't you agree?"

"There will obstacles then just that" Orochimaru countered. "The Uchiha boy has two partners that will most likely be with him"

"As does mine - a troublesome pair" Voldemort hissed angrily and clenched a fist, causing Orochimaru to smirk at his kin's obvious displeasure.

"The girl is not a problem," he continued. "But the other boy... he has a demon within him"

Voldemort's eyes widened.

"A real demon?"

"Yes - and an ancient too. It is the Kyuubi, the Ninetailed Lord of Foxes"

"A fox? You mean to tell me that a Fox stands in the way of a Snake? Don't you know that foxes hunt snake"

"I know that..." Orochimaru nodded before tailing off as a thought came to his mind. "...You could always possesses him"

"What?"

The golden eyed man sighed with distain. "Possesses the boy 'oh great one'" he mocked. "The power of that beast would be enough to satisfy your thirsts. Rather then the wolf in sheep's clothing, you be the snake in a fox's"

And for once in his long life, Voldemort was speechless. The reptilian spirit eyes glinted at the thought and it cast an even more sinister look over him. He grinned wickedly at Orochimaru.

"Brilliant..."

And Orochimaru smiled back.

"Then it looks like you have yourself a deal"

.-

In two different countries, six particular children slept undisturbed. They dreamt dreams of love, wisdom, revenge, freedom and acceptance. Within these nightly worlds they were free from the burdens that plagued their lives. In the great castle of Hogwarts, three had no idea that their current sanctuary was about to be invaded by an evil that they had yet to encounter while in the hidden village of Konoha the other three were about to face an undecided fate.

And for one child, a presence stirred within. A dormant power not yet awakened began to flutter, as if it was ready to force its way into the world. Unable to brake away, the power subsided, returning to its slumber and to wait - to wait until the moment that it would be set free.

It was Life itself and yet, it was Death.

Always a pair they were...

...and together it be a force to be reckoned with


	9. Chapter 9 A Day of Disasters

Chapter Nine- A Day of Disasters

It was a beautiful morning in the high hills of Scotland where Hogwarts rested her vast foundations. The sun had risen to cut through the dreary morning fog, bright enough that one would venture to assume could even breach defenses of the darkness within the Forbidden Forest. Students rose from their beds fully refreshed and ready to start the day anew with a good breakfast down in the Great Hall. And it would have continued had it not been for one enraged girl who stormed in late, her body hideously painted ever color of the rainbow.

The look of pure rage on Haruno Sakura's face couple with its many hues of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet was enough to make a man drop dead from seer fright (or it could from shock or laughter). The multi-colored girl's eyes scanned the hall until they landed upon the person she sought; a boy with vibrant blonde hair and a loud mouth that was currently frozen in mid bite of his breakfast.

"I'm going to kill you!"

It was only seconds in which at blinding speeds the girl launched herself at the boy and the boy was able to dodge her coming attack and escape among the other laughing students.

"Sakura-chan, please - it wasn't me!" Naruto wailed as he vaulted over the Ravenclaw table and nearly toppled over into a group of fourth year Slythrins seated at the table next them.

"Don't you Sakura-chan me!" she shrieked. "You're the dunce that always comes up with a prank like this!"

"But I swear I didn't!"

"LIER!"

The whole Great Hall was in an uproar now. They had all witnessed Sakura's anger before, but nothing this comical. The teachers were unable to make it past the mass of students to stop the impending bloodbath now that they had all risen for their seats to surround the pair, locking a terrified Naruto in a death circle with the girl who was out to kill him.

And magic wasn't to be involved at all.

At the edge of the crowd, Sasuke sighed at the irony of the situation. Why did Naruto have to be so stupid...?

"What a man" a voice sniffed dramatically from nearby.

"Our hero" a seconded added.

"We'll honor your death our friend for having taken the blame for us!" they chimed together.

Then suddenly there was silence. The dark haired boy turned to look at a pair of redheaded twins with freckles to spare. He had seen them before as they were in the same house as he and his teammates as well as they were always getting into trouble.

And it seemed that everyone else had heard it too. As if parting the Red Sea, the students separated, leaving a direct path towards the duo. At the center Sakura had Naruto by the throat, but she was no longer concerned with her capture as all her attention was now focused on the identical pair.

"Oops..." the first redhead grinned sheepishly. You know this means we are going to die now George..."

The second redhead nodded. "Of course Fred, why wouldn't I?"

They looked at each other for a moment before smiling.

"Love the color - brings out the rage in your eyes. Bye!"

The pair where then off like a shot out of the Great Hall as fast as their legs could carry them, with one particular rainbow colored girl hot on they're heals.

And that was how the day of disasters began...

.-

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit - I'm going to be late!"

Naruto tottered back and forth and he rushed around his dormitory looking for his missing textbook. He found it under his bed of all places and as he backed up, he stepped on the tail of Sasuke's cat causing Sazunami to rear up and slash at his leg with her sharp claw with a yowl.

"Gomen baka cat!" he cried as he swatted at her with the large book.

Darting out of the dormitory at the same time as he shoved the book into his supplies bag, the blonde was out of Gryffindor Tower before you could say 'all you can ramen'. With only minutes to spare till his first class of the day started (it had to be Potions of all subjects), Naruto was in frenzy as he bolted down the stone corridors. The more he figured the closer he was to getting to the dungeons, the more it felt like he was heading for the towers. His desperation to get to his least liked class was now roaring in his chest as he heaved himself over one on the moving staircase banisters and let himself drop at least a traitorous fifty feet. He could hear the gasps of many students on the stairs as he fell past before striking home on one set of stairs as nimbly as a cat.

And it was in his rush that he ran head long into Neville Longbottom. The two boys came crashing to the floor in a painful heap, both having the wind knocked out of them. The crash was then followed by a gale of mirthless laughter and Naruto knew that voice that was laughing the loudest could only belong to one person - Draco Malfoy.

"Look, the two fools decided to show off they're stupidity together!" the gray eyed boy sneered. "Are you going to practice at losing more brain cells?"

The Slytherin second years that were now gathered around Professor Snape's closed dungeon classroom door burst out in laughter.

"Shut up" Naruto snapped angrily as he got to his feet and proceeded to help Neville.

"Why should I you mudblood freak?"

Not caring how the outcome would be, the brighter blonde spat back his retort venomously.

"Because I said so you inbred prick!"

That was enough to cast a hush over Slytherins and Gryffindors alike.

"Why you -" Malfoy's begun to turn red with fury at the same moment that the dungeon door swung open and smashed into the pale blonde face.

Malfoy let out a cry of pain as the rest of the students, all those wishing to avoid a scene, fled into the dungon. Naruto smirked as he passed the boy, triumph written across his widely grinning face.

"Who's the fool now? Losing a few brain cells now are we?"

.-

Ten minutes later double Potions with the Slytherins was in full swing. Snape was circling the classroom like a hawk; dictating his way and yelling at the poor shumk how made a mistake. As fate would cruelly have it, Uchiha Sasuke found himself stuck with his biggest fan girl as a lad partner. A still rainbow-fide Sakura who looked as those she was bursting for the chance to natters at him. For the first time the dark haired boy was really wishing that he could have been placed with Naruto. Better the dobe then Sakura any day.

But Naruto was halfway across the classroom and as fate would have it for him was partnered with the Master of Disaster Neville Longbottom himself. Though it was perfectly clear to all around that the blonde appeared undeterred by his luck in partners and was happily chatting to the pudgy boy about how they were going to get they're potion done without any mistakes.

And all went well to until they reached the second half of their first class. Sasuke couldn't help but notice that the pale boy Malfoy had been making plans of some sort the whole first half. Whatever he was planning had to be bad...

"Now pay close attention" the greasy hair professor barked, causing the young Sharingan user to snap suddenly out of his thoughts. "This second half of the class we will be brewing a very complex concoction that one must take exceptional care with. The potion in question is know as Hell's Fire"

The class gasped as one, and Sasuke wasn't fool enough to think that the young witches and wizards were impressed, but rather terrified that Snape would even think to make them do something like that. Unconcerned, the professor continued.

"Although it is a much weaker form of its sister potion Satan's Breath, it is not something to be taken lightly. We will be brewing this potion today due to its beneficial use of curing Dragon Pox that has sprung up upon the unicorn herd that dwells within the Dark Forest. So I'll have you know that if one mistake is made..."

And Sasuke noted with intrest as Neville let out a squeak of fear as the greasy man turned a pointed look at him. He was unaware of Sakura trying to get his attention as he watched as Naruto whispered something that only the pudgy boy could hear. Whatever it was, Neville seemed to calm down a little. Then suddenly an elbow jabbed into his ribs - hard.

"Ita! What was that for!" he snapped as he looked into Sakura's glaring face.

"To get your attention!" she snapped back. "If you keep lollygagging, Snape is going to fail us!"

"He would not"

"Sure he would!"

Able to sway her, Sasuke sighed. "Fine. Now what do you want?"

"I need you to get me the dried Deadly Nightshade berries and liquid Witch Hazel. Also we'll need the powered Dragon Scale, Flobberworm mucus, Doxy venom and the Mandrake leaves"

He smirked to himself as she growled in frustration when he shrugged him off and began to dig into his box of potion ingredients. It was easy to drive the young kunochi mad during this class as it was her favorite save for the horrible teacher. He had been better at Charms as the dobe seemed to do the best at Transfiguration (at least when he was paying attention...)

"What do you think you are doing?"

The class groaned audibly - Snape had come upon Neville and Naruto's cauldron...

"Exactly as the book the book describes sensei" Sasuke and Sakura, like everyone else watched as Naruto smiled up at the dark professor. "I was just doing my part in instructing Neville to add the Deadly Nightshade before the powered Dragon Scale. If I hadn't have done that, the potion would have exploded sir"

It was well known in this that Naruto was nowhere near stellar in the art of potion making, and not that he really cared much either, but today he really seemed to be putting effort for Neville's sake. It also seemed that some of the blonde's courage had rubbed off on his pudgy partner because when asked why one must not add one ingredient before the other, Neville looked confidently up at Professor Snape without a trace of fear in his eyes.

"Since the Nightshade is such a deadly substance sir," Neville began. "It must be added to the bowling potion before the Dragon Scale before of its difference in matter. One does not go about adding a physical substance to a magical substance without knowing that there will be a reaction. Should one do that by mistake would be suffering the repercussions later"

He hadn't even stuttered at all.

"...very...good..."

Saying those two words must have hurt Snape grievously because his face scrunched up as though he had just tasted something bitter.

"Don't listen to him" Naruto could be heard whispering to him. "You're a far better person then he'll be. I believe in you"

"T-thanks Naruto" was Neville's stuttered reply as he added ingredient to the potion.

And things would have continued to be fine had Sasuke not suddenly felt a wave of imminent danger wash over him.

"Sharingan" the dark haired boy mouthed to himself as his eyes flashed and suddenly became red.

Turning, he was only in time to watch as a nasty smirk came to Malfoy's lips and a something small and red landed in Neville and Naruto's potion with a soft plunk. So it was with his special bloodline eyes that he watched what was about to take place in slow motion.

As if moving under water, Naruto jerked sharply, having sensed the danger seconds before it happened and put all his strength into slamming Neville out of the way...

"Neville, look out!"

... As the potion exploded in his face...

The exploding potion had the force of a small bomb, sending its victim flying backwards a good twenty feet. There were screams followed as the other students barely managed to dodge out of the way in time as not to be struck down by him. Naruto it seemed had taken a power hit and soon came crashing to the floor was a load thump.

And the screams continued. Everyone that was able to get a glimpse at what was left of the fallen boy voiced their horror as one. Lying in the middle of the classroom dressed in melted smoldering robes was what could only be described as a corpse. The damage to his body was so sever that it was sicken. His skin it appeared had been seared away, reveling tender muscle and tissues for all to see. The sound of short ragged breaths could be heard and his eyes were still open - dull electric blues clouded over with the fog of pain.

He had seen it all...

Still stuck in slow motion, Sasuke had barely realized that a student had already been sent to go fetch the school matron. The woman who entered the room though was not Madame Pomfray, but rather a lady of oriental heritage dressed in what looked to be a cross between a wizard's robe and a kimono.

"Where is the boy?" was the first thing she said and it was a demand.

But it was plain to see where Naruto was and she was at his side within seconds. It didn't take her long to look him over before her serious almond brown eyes snapped back up to the class and it was clear to see that they could stop a man dead. She was one of them - Shinobi.

And with more venom then one could possibly distil into their own voice, she made her next demand.

"Who did this?"

.-

"Kit wake up..."

Within what felt like hell Naruto groaned in pain, but did not open his eyes. He could hear a voice calling out to him, but it was so faint. Who was it? And why did it sound so familiar?

"Kit? Naruto, wake up baka brat!"

"Hunh?"

The blonde's eyes finally opened this time and he winced as he found himself once again before the cage of the Kyuubi. Struggling to sit up he noticed that the walls around them were cracked and oozing a strange oily substance that looked oddly enough like blood...

"Kyuubi? What happened?" he moaned as he put both hand to temples.

Although he was unable to see it, the fox's eyes flashed with uncharacteristic concern.

"We are dying..." it stated simply.

"What?"

He certainly hadn't been expecting that.

"I mean that life as we know it is ending.

"I know what you meant!" Naruto snapped and jumped to his feet despite the pain he felt all over. "But why and how come you can just heal me?"

The great fox sighed. "Why? Because you saved a boy that would have died instead. How come I can't heal you? The wounds you have suffered are far too extensive for me to manage behind these bars"

The blonde gapped in open-mouthed silence as the facts finally began to sink in.

"So we'll die here?"

"I am afraid so"

"But, but, but..." Naruto stuttered helplessly as he felt unbidden tear begin to rise to his eyes. "But I haven't earned acceptance yet - I haven't become Hokage yet. I can't die!"

"There is nothing I can do" the Kyuubi said softly as it turned away from it's terrified vessel, resigned to the fact that after two millions years it would die.

"W-what if I let you out?"

The fox suddenly whipped around to stare with wide red eyes down at the blonde before him.

"As much as I want that, it is impossible"

"Why?"

"Once I had left your body, you would only die faster"

"What if we merged?"

That rendered the fox speechless.

"And risk losing yourself?" it asked as soon as it found its voice again.

"Yes. It would be better then dying!"

In that moment Naruto felt as if he had saved and damned his soul in the same instant. The blue eyed boy stared up at what had been the bane of his existence for all his twelve years. And the fox stared back at him and it was clear to both of them that this was there only choice for survival.

"So be it"

And it was as if he was being lead by some irresistible force that could not be denied that lead Naruto to pace his hands upon the bars of the Kyuubi's cage. The cold iron began to glow and then it began to burn as the chamber of his mind was suddenly filled with the most dazzling light. As soon as the bars vanished, Naruto collapsed weakly to the floor.

"I... feel strange..." he whimpered.

"As it is to be expected" the Kyuubi replied as it walked forward, its massive size having dwindled down to that of small horse. "Your soul is under strain excepting mine. It will be a while before the physical changes begin to show, but you are much stronger then I have given you credit for"

"Is that a compliment baka fox?"

The Kyuubi just smirked. "What do you believe?"

.-

"He did it"

All eyes suddenly landed on Draco Malfoy as the words left Sasuke's mouth. For the first time since they had met, the pale blonde looked terrified. Not bothering to deal with the boy just yet, the woman got up and walked over to the fallen cauldron and reached inside. When she removed her hand, between her fingers she held a small red spiky seed.

"Kurenai Zetsumi" she growled. "I thought so..." she turned to Malfoy with a monstrous glare."I have no idea how you've managed to get a hold of a Crimson Death seed, but I know enough to know that your intent of its use was to murder one or more you peers.

She then turned to look as Snape. "I am renowned for me knowledge as a healer, but these wounds I cannot heal. The boy is nearly dead"

"But he's still alive!" the dark professor protested.

"He is far too gone!" the woman snapped. "In all my days as a healer, I have nev-"

"Oh my god! H-he's healing!"

The shocked cry of one Slytherin girl grabbed the attention of the two adults immediately. Sure enough Naruto's skin was being to grow back as smooth and flawless as if once was. Watching the miracle unfold before their eyes, the blonde's eyes blinked slowly and life, albeit exhausted returned to them once more. The woman looked down upon him with wide eyes and looked at a strange exposed parterre that was fading from his stomach.

"...It can't be..." she whispered before shaking her head and moving to pick up the near unconscious boy.

As she turned to leave, Snape found the courage to stop her.

"You never said who you were. Where's Madame Pomfray?"

"I am her replacement until further notice. You can call me Tsunade"

Together Sasuke and Sakura gapped as she left the class in her wake. One of the Legendary Sennin was at Hogwarts. Their awe was only minutes later as a stabbing pain suddenly torn into Sasuke's shoulder and he could feel unseen eye boring into him. That could only mean one thing - Orochimaru had to be here too.

And with a twisting sense of foreboding, Sasuke wondered how many more disasters they could take.


	10. Chapter 10 The First Mission

Chapter Ten - The First Mission

He could feel the air burning in his lungs as he ran and his legs straining with everything it took to keep him going. Should he choose to stop now would mean certain death and he really did plan to live for a few more years. The dense over hang of the trees and the shadows they provided excellent coverage for him, but he knew that they would not hinder his pursuer. It was to run and maybe live...

Forcing some energy down into his feet, the fleeing boy jumped and was vaulted up into a nearby tree. He could see the shimmer of light nearly a hundred yards away. The end of the forest... his freedom was so close he could taste it. Willing himself to go faster, the boy jumped for tree to tree, watching as the light got closer... and closer.

"Harry-kun!" a particularly annoying voice cried out as he made touchdown on the ground at the forest's edge and then he felt arms wrap around him as he was caught in a full body tackle.

He couldn't even cry out in shock because he so exhausted as they went down to hit the grass. Laughter rang out around him and panting like hell; he rolled over and nearly crushed Ino in the process. Shikamaru and Choji were snickering silently next to Ron who was nearly bursting a gut he was laughing so hard and Hermione... who was scowling.

"Looks like Ino got you this time Harry" the lazy genin chuckled as he tried to fake it for a yawn.

"She gets him ever time!" Ron crowed. "But he did do better this time"

"Ron, leave him alone" Hermione frowned as she continued to glare at Ino.

Harry could only keep panting for breath. Why did he have be stuck with his very own stalker as a training partner ever time Team 10 stopped by? His friends must really get a kick out of watching him get plastered a girl who had, as far as he could tell, too many dirty things on her mind.

"Umm... Ino... need... to... breathe..."

The blonde kunochi suddenly looked around him to see that her arms were wrapped around him so tightly that his face was turning blue.

"Gomen!" she cried, pushed him aside and hopped to her feet, earning more laughter from her teammates.

Harry was relieved to finally get his chance to sit up.

"Please don't try to kill me next time..." he sighed.

The girl just blushed and let out a small giggle at the same moment that Kakashi and Asuma appeared in the clearing.

"Yo!" Kakashi smiled. "She got you again, didn't she Harry?"

"Shut up"

"Ino, what have I told you about molesting the new kid?" Asuma asked shaking his head.

"Hey! It wasn't anything like that!" the young wizard andkunochi shouted at the same time.

The two jounin exchanged mocking looks of disbelief.

"Sure..."

But at least the cigarette smoking of the pair just smiled and rounded up his team. Goodbyes were exchanged as the four departed to continue training on their own training grounds and Harry couldn't be happier. Hermione also started to smile again once the annoyances were gone (well Kakashi was still there, but she had gotten used to him by now).

Ron wasn't helping though. He was lavishly describing to their teacher how Ino had whooped his ass. Then again neither was Kakashi helping by laughing at everything the redhead told him.

"It's not funny!" he snapped. "You always put with her so she can torture me"

"Don't think of it as torture Harry - think of it as lessons in survival"

"Bullshit"

"Anyway," the silver haired man grinned behind his mask. "We have a mission"

Harry and Ron traded glances.

"It isn't weeding gardens or catching cats for old ladies again is it?"

Kakashi at least had the decency to mock looking insulted.

"Nooo and I do hope you three will be serious this time. The Hokage just told me that we are being sent to discuss a treaty... with Sand Country"

Now it was Hermione's turn to speak. "We are going to Suna?"

"That what I said"

"But don't the Sand Nins hate the Leaf Nins?"

"Yes"

"Then why exactly are we going? Can't someone with more experience be sent on a suicide mission?"

Kakashi sweatdropped. "The reason our team was chosen for this task was because of two reasons: First was your lack experience - you need to be able to prove yourselves. Second was that since the three of you aren't technically shinobi, you would be therefore uncorrupt by the politics that effect the Hidden Villages"

But the burnet witch looked unconvinced. Her face was set in that expression of 'I've made up my mind and you are not going to change it'. And in Harry's heart, something sank.

"I won't do it"

"But it's an order"

"Well I won't" Hermione snapped.

"You promised loyalty to the village when you came here" Kakashi reminded her, trying not to piss her off even more.

But Hermione was set on what she thought. "I am not going to risk my life when the chance of getting killed is a thousand times greater then living, because if you th-"

"Come on Hermione!" Ron suddenly smiled as he cut her off. "It'll be educational for you - for us. We haven't gotten to travel outside Konoha for the last two months. It's already October and we haven't yet had one real mission. I can't help but feel weak when I listen to the others talk about what they've done and I'd like to be ready for the Chuunin Exams that take place in four months! I mean Professor Dumbledore sent us here for a reason and that was to learn new things that will help us in the future. I don't mean to borate you or anything, but you won't be able to make it by on just learning thing from books"

"I know you're strong," he continued. "I've seen what you can do. When you need to, you pack a nasty punch and I'm sure that both Kakashi and I can vouch for that. But we need to get more experience. Defeating You-Know-Who last year was nothing because he's still around... and he's not the only enemy anymore. Think of Harry's dream..."

"Well... I..." Hermione could barely speak, having been so shocked my Ron's use of diplomacy.

"Who wants war?" the redhead added. "I don't and if we can help with making sure that it doesn't happen, then I'm all up for that. What do you think Harry?"

The attention of the group was suddenly on the green eyed boy once again.

Harry smiled. "I think it's a great idea"

Hermione crossed her arms. "You just want to get away from your girlfriend"

His face turned red. "Of course I do and she is not my girlfriend! But this is different"

"Don't worry so much Herimone" Kakashi finally said. "The Kazekage of Sunagakure knows that we are coming so we'll be perfectly safe... and if were not, I'm certain you three will be able to handle yourselves"

They all held their breaths while they waited for Hermione to make her decision. And after what felt like an eternity, the girl finally through up her arms in exasperation.

"Fine, I'll do it"

At it was celebrated with Ron getting a smack upside the head. Some times you just can't win.

.-

That night was sent preparing their supplies for the mission as well as getting a good night's sleep. With Hermione fussing half the night about safety precautions, the two boys had been ready fall asleep even before six thirty. And then the morning came too soon. It was spent having breakfast and Hermione trying to force Konohamaru, who had stopped by to wish Ron good luck, out of house. It didn't end well that's for sure. The younger boy said she looked a demented buck toothed rabbit and she retorted by smacking him upside the head and then dragging him out of the apartment kicking and screaming. Also for the first time in since Sakura's Howler, Kakashi showed up late.

Although the silver haired man survived the beating he received for it with mere bumps and bruises, his excuse had been genuine enough to save him from certain death (the power had gone out causing the time on his alarm clock got screwed up and the backup batteries inside the clock were way to old to work anyway).

And leaving Konoha that morning had been the easy part. Hiking through the vast hills and forests of Fire Country had been a simple task and it was amazing that it only took the four travelers two days to reach the edge of the grasslands and venture out into the desert. But once they were there, they all kind of wished they hadn't. The heat of the sun baked down over Sand Country so furiously that everything appeared barren and dry. That also caused poor Ron to start complained the whole time. He wasn't really at fault for it since all his cloths were so heavy, not to mention that due to his fair skin and red hair he was beginning to look like a roast turkey. And so on the third day of their journey through the desert, it was clear that they all in need of a rest.

After finding a shaded gully, the three youth collapsed with exhaustion.

"If I wasn't so hot, I'd kill you right now..." Hermione sighed as she dropped down to sit upon the closet sand dune.

"Which one of us though?" Ron panted weakly as he tried to get his sweat-soaked shirt to dry and causing his already burned skin to crisp some more.

The brown hair girl glowered at him tiredly.

"Not sure yet... but I think it would be nice to get rid of all three of you"

"What a lovely thought" Harry commented dryly. "Then again if I wasn't so tired, I'd be doing it myself"

Kakashi could only look at the trio and shake his head. It was a change and a challenge to deal with these three more and less then it had been with Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. Everything was different. But as he had more tolerance, the silver hair jounin ignored the heat and the moans of his pupils to sit back and start to read some more of his ever constant dirty novel companion.

"Why do we have to travel during the day?" Ron suddenly asked. "I would be easier to do it at night wouldn't it?"

But Kakashi was too lost in his book by then to hear the boy's question.

"Stupid pervert..."

Rolling his eyes, Ron left to go sit with Harry and Hermione. Together they flopped back upon the sand and closed their eyes for a rest... just a sort rest...

.-

The sound of soft snoring caused Ron Weasley to jerk awake in disoriented confusion. The sun had already begun to set and the air had taken on a slight relaxing chill. How long had he been asleep? Looking around he noticed that Hermione was curled up into a ball and Harry lay snoring with his mouth open next to her. But while all their provisions still remained, Kakashi was gone. Not wanting to wake his friends, the red haired boy decided to take a walk.

The walk out of the gully was refreshing and just to look at pinks and rubies of the darken sky was very tranquilizing. And it was only while he was stifling another yawn that he felt the air grow cold. His eyes snapped up to survey the sands around him. It was too quite now and the world felt hollow and dead. It was the feeling of being hunted...

There was the sound of crunching sand, but there was no life other then he to be seen. Dropping down into a crouch, Ron remained silent and waited.

Then suddenly a wave of sand rose up around him. It swirled dangerously as it began to take on the form of a very large snake.

"Bloody hell!" Ron shouted and turned to run.

But the sand snake stayed with him. No matter which way he ran, the beast followed. Although he was managing to dodge its many striking blows and advances, Ron knew he wouldn't have a chance at stopping it... and that meant he was a done for...

... And then a voice came.

"Tei: Shippuu Kaze!"

A great gale of wind suddenly dropped down upon the snake and tore it apart down to every single gain. The assaulting sand then dropped itself back to the earth from whence it came.

"Shit! Thanks Hermione!"

"No problem Ron" the girl answered as she and Harry came running up to join him.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked. "What was that thing?"

"One bloody big snake made of sand!" the red head gasped and began to wave his arms about. "It was a huge sucker and it defiantly wasn't friendly"

"Yes..." Hermione nodded. "And I don't think I really want to meet the person who was controlling it"

The two boys looked at her before tensing and looked around themselves as they prepared for another attack. It came sooner then they anticipated, the sand once again rising for the ground to try and smother them with its awesome power. Prepared this time, Ron and his friends went into action. Hermione was quick to summon up her hurricane winds and Harry to summon down the mother of all lightning bolts.

"Get ready to close your eyes..."

Wanting to do his part and to do it good, Ron's hands flew into the pattern of a very familiar jutsu...

"Hikari: Taiyo Bakuhatsu!"

At his command, a blinding light filled the darkened desert with the intensity of the sun and cries of shock and pain could be heard for somewhere beyond the light. When it finally faded, three strange youth were clearly visible.

The first was a girl of about fourteen holding one big whooper of a battle fan, the second was a boy of about the same age dressed all in black and the last was another boy about their age with a strange gourd strapped to his back and a hand outstretched.

He was their attacker.

They didn't have a chance to prepare this time. Faster then they could blink the raccoon eyed boy commanded another attack. Seconds later Ron found himself looking down at his chest in bewildered shock. At its center a bight red stain had begun to form and spread out.

"Ron!"

He could barely hear Hermione's voice as his knees gave out and he began to fall.

"Ron!"

It was Harry's voice this time calling to him, telling him not to go. But everything had begun to blacken around the edges and then he knew no more.


	11. Chapter 11 The Bloodline of Life and Dea

Chapter Eleven- The Bloodline of Life and Death

Hermione screamed as Ron collapsed to the ground, a small hole in burned straight through his chest. The brown haired girl's eye went wide with horror. She had never seen anyone die before let alone one of her best friends. The shock didn't last long before a rage began to replace it. Blinded by the new born fury in her heart, the young witch let out what sounded like a battle cry and launched herself at Ron's killer.

"Yami: Kiregire no za Akunochimata!" she screamed as she directed its full power on the boy.

It was a forbidden jutsu that she had discovered crammed in between the scroll shelves within the library in Konoha. At first she had been terrified of her discovery, but the more she tried to make herself take it to the Hokage, the more she had felt as if she would need it someday. So in secret the bookish girl had learned the monstrous technique...

... And she had never used it on anyone till now.

The strange raccoon eyed boy stepped back in shock, as if he hadn't expected something like this to happen. All around Hermione thousands of small flaming stone shards tore free of the earth beneath her feet and then were flung at him. Even though with all his power, the boy cried out in pain as the shards touched him. Where they touched, the skin was horribly burned. His two accomplices gasped in shock and the girl then launched herself at the furious Hermione.

Harry had to back away, just like the other older boy as the two girls clashed. Hermione preformed a perfect 'round the world' kick that knocked the fan away and then head butted the blonde girl with all her strength. But then Harry was unable to stay back. He ran forward and hauled his brown haired friend of the girl she was currently venting her rage upon.

"No Hermione, stop!" Harry cried.

"But they killed him!" Harmione shrieked, kicking at him. "They killed Ron!"

She felt Harry close as a sob tore free from her throat.

"I-I know" Harry was crying too. "But killing her won't bring him back. If it means I die trying, then I'll die protecting you. The prophecy told me to protect my loved ones and you are the last one I have left!"

But as the two friends cried and their trio of attackers watched them in shock, something began to happen...

To everyone's utter surprise Ron suddenly stood up, his eyes no longer their normal clear blue, but rather the whole eye had turned completely black.

"How dare you try and kill this child" a haunting voice snarled and yet Ron had no opened his mouth.

The trio shrank back.

"You are not the ones to decide who lives and who dies - only I do. This boy is my scion and you have set me free from my eternal slumber"

"Who are you?" the strange girl asked as she tried to mask the quiver of fear in her voice.

"I am Life, I am Death. You choose what you wish to believe" the voice hissed. "I bequeath my powers to this child and hope that he is a far more forgiving soul then I"

The voice vanished and Ron was left where he stood.

"You killed me..." he muttered, his new blackened eyes staring intently at the raccoon eyed boy."I sense... a demon inside of you. Was it your will... or the beast's?"

But the boy did not answer.

"Answer me!" Ron yelled. "And I may let you live"

"I must sedate its hunger" the boy growled in reply.

"Then it is not worthy of you"

Life-like shadows suddenly rose up from the earth to surround the boy.

"Please don't kill my brother!" the girl cried.

Ron turned to stare at her. "And who said I was killing him?"

The girl nearly chocked on her own tongue when he said those words. Had she not said anything, she would have gotten her answer anyway. The shadows that had surround her brother's body then pulled away from him... and took with them a creature of nightmares. It looked like an abnormal giant raccoon that was hissing and spitting at the shadow that held it.

"You cannot kill me pathetic human" the demon snarled. "I am a god in this world"

"And I am Death, demon" Ron replied. "Everything dies and I have declared that it is your time"

"You can't do this!"

"Watch me"

The creature let out a mighty shriek that spilt the desert night as Ron gave a wave of his hand. The shadows consumed the beast entirely as the on looker watched in horror. And as quick as it happened, it was over.

"Whoa... head rush" Ron gasped as he dropped to his knees, his eyes returning to normal.

"Ron?" Hermione whispered in disbelief.

"Yeah?"

"You're alive!"

The brown haired girl threw her arms around him and enveloped in a mighty hug. Harry followed soon after. It was so joyous for the three friends that they forgot all about their three attackers. When they finally broke apart, they turned to look at them.

The boy whom had contained the demon sat on the ground looking numbly at his hands. The wounds that Hermione had caused during her attack on him had vanished and his two siblings were now kneeling down beside him.

"S-Shakaku's gone" he whispered in shock. "I... I feel so tired"

His sister laughed at him though tears. "That's because you've never slept before!"

Exhausted, the boy collapsed into her arms, sound asleep for the first time in his life.

The other boy looked over at Ron. "How did you do that?"

Ron could only smile.

"Yeah Ron, who did you do that?" Harry asked.

The redhead grinned sheepishly.

"Umm... it's my bloodline..."

"But you don't have one!" Hermione protested. "It's only some Shinobi clans that do!"

"Not true... my family has one. The line of Deathdealer/Lifegivers had been thought to have died out long ago. Although descendants still lived on, everyone thought that the blood had run to thin. Old legends that dad would tell us was that only those worthy of Life and Death would receive its gifts. But there hasn't been a single person in my family for over a thousand years to have possessed the power... umm I don't really know how it works"

"Don't know it works?" the girl snapped. "You just killed the demon that has been inside my brother since the moment of his birth! How could you not know?"

"Things won't work just because I want them too! Big things like that have to be for a reason; otherwise I'd turn into a cold-blooded killer!"

Just then Kakashi appeared next to them in a cloud of smoke.

"Oh shit, what happened here?"

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Hermione shrieked. "DO YOU KNOW THAT RON JUST DIED?"

Everyone winced while Ron and Harry just sweatdropped with embarrassment for their friend.

"He looks lively enough to me" the jounin replied. "I was just in Suna"

"And you could get there just by poofing like that?"

"Yep!"

"And we've been traveling all this way in the desert heat why?"

"It wouldn't have been a mission otherwise"

Hermione screamed and launched herself at him. This time everyone sweat dropped.

"So..." the girl asked Ron and Harry as Hermione tried to beat on Kakashi."You three wouldn't happen to be that team that was called for now would you?"

"You're only asking now?" Harry cried. "You tired to kill us!"

"Sorry, but we rarely get Leaf Nins through here - not with the animosity between our villages"

Harry groaned.

"So you survived meeting the Sand Sibling have you?" Kakashi asked as Hermione finally gave up. "Not many people can brag about that"

The girl looked over at Kakashi.

"That boy, the red haired one removed and destroyed the vile demon Shakaku in which my father sealed inside my bother so many years ago"

"You what?" Kakashi gasped and whipped about on Ron.

"It's a long story" the redhead grinned weakly. "Can I explain later?"

It was going to be a long story indeed.

.-

Well for the trio of wizards, they certainly hadn't expected their attacker to be the children of the Kazekage himself. The girl Temari apologized profusely while her brother Kankuro carried their sleeping brother Gaara back home. Surprisingly enough it only took them till morning to reach Sunagakuri, as it hadn't been very far from where they had set up camp. And all night Kakashi had refrained from drilling his students on what had exactly taken place in his absence because they all looked much worn out.

"Who goes there?" one of the ANBU guards at the gates called out when they arrived.

"It's Temari, Kankuro, Gaara and a team of four from the Leaf" Temari yelled out. "Let us pass. We must see my father immediately"

The guard did not hesitate to open the gates for the blonde and they were soon admitted into the streets of Suna.

"Wow" Ron gaped. "This is soo cool!"

"Isn't that what you said when we first got to Konoha?" Harry asked his revived friend as they were lead towards the center of the village.

"Sure!"

As they arrived at the center, they found a regal looking man waiting for them.

"Otousan!" Temari shouted and ran forward towards her father, Kankuro following.

The Kazekage looked in shock between his three children, the two that were awake and the one that slept.

"Is he..." the man asked looking at Gaara in shock.

"Sleeping?" Kankuro finished. "Yes"

"But how?" the Kazekage demanded. "The Shakaku-"

"The demon is dead otousan"

"What?"

Temari turned back to Ron and his friends.

"Because of them" she smiled. "The one with the red hair has a great gift. He has punished the demon by granting its final death. Gaara is free of its evil now"

There was silence as many people had gathered around to hear what was going on. Whispers spread like wildfire among the villagers. The demon was dead and the boy had lived. Many couldn't believe what they heard and were now looking at Ron and Harry and Hermione with large eyes. And after what had seemed like forever, the Kazekage smiled.

"Thank you child" he said to Ron before turning to Kakashi. "We have nothing to discuss now. What your student has done for my family has earned an alliance rather then a treaty with this village. Stay till you are well enough to travel then go tell your Hokage what my decision is. Let hope that if this can mean a better tomorrow. Come"

He turned and left for them to follow. Things sure had gotten interesting in the last few days.

"So, what now?"


	12. Chapter 12 Of the Harsh Consequences of

Chapter Twelve - Of the Harsh Consequences of Reality

Although the room was heated by the warmth of a roaring fire, its single occupant was shivering as if cold. The occupant in question was a boy of no more then twelve years of age with cloudy gray eyes, silvery blonde hair and pale skin to match. On a normal occasion he would have been cocky or sure of himself in any situation facing him. But this was not one of those days.

For Draco Malfoy was beginning to understand the true meaning of fear.

Soon a door at the far end of the room opened and the he watched as it admitted a small group of adults. The first was the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. The second was the Deputy Headmistress and Head of Gryffindor House, Minerva McGonagall. The third was Head of Ravenclaw House, Filius Flitwick. The fourth was Head of Hufflepuff House, Flora Sprout. The fifth was Head of Slytherin House, Severus Snape. The sixth and final was the new school matron, Tsunade.

It seemed to him as if they were all part of some funeral procession as the six adults gathered around the large staff table, none taking their eyes off him. At the head, Professor Dumbledore nodded to the rest and they were seated. The headmaster's eyes looked dull to the boy who had always seen them twinkling brightly with unnatural light. But today they were just as cold as the mask of indifference he now wore.

Dumbledore clasped his hands together. "Do you, Draco Augustus Malfoy," he began. "Know why you are here today?"

Draco nodded numbly as his throat hadn't seemed to be working all morning.

"Will you answer truthfully to all questions asked of you in this room by any of those you see before you?"

He nodded again.

"Then I'm sure that you know that attempted murder of two of your peers is a serious offence"

Without waiting for him to make a reply, Dumbledore continued.

"Reports from the many eye-witnesses say that the attack was premeditated and not simply spontaneous. The fact that more then just your two intended victims could have been killed or injured makes this matter far more serious. Am I clear?"

And no matter how painful it was for him, he nodded once again. Dumbledore seemed satisfied with that much so far. And Draco could feel his stomach flip as the elderly man then turned his attention away from him and to the matron.

Smiling thinly, the headmaster spoke. "Tsunade, would you please tell everyone here exactly what was used to make the potion in this incident explode?"

Draco began to feel sick as the scary blonde woman nodded and rise from her seat. He watched in absolute silence as she reached inside her robes and pulled out a small bag. Upon opening it, the same red seed he had used only days before dropped out into her hand. Taking it between her thumb and forefinger, she held it out for to see.

"In my home country this is known as Kurenai Zetsumi or Crimson Death" she began in a voice that was as calm and cold as death. "While the plant itself is rare all over the world, it grows in abundance around the place in which I hale from. The Kurenai Zetsumi is a perennial flower with large crimson petals the color of freshly spilt blood that are known for their many poisonous qualities. What was used though was the seed. The seed itself is a fifty times more powerful the petals. Rendered down and added to any other substance, it can cause a very devastating explosion. The thing that concerns me most how a child got a hold of one when the flower is not yet in bloom..."

She turned her narrow brown eyes to glare upon him. Those eyes seemed to penetrate his soul - it felt as if just by looking at him, she could read every nasty thing he had ever done.

"So I'll ask you once - where did you get it?"

He opened his mouth, but found this was a dry as cotton and shut it tight.

"Well?"

"That is a very good question" Flitwick squeaked, the tiny professor was barely visible from where hesitated next to the table. "One that I am ready to hear"

Darco forced himself to swallow.

"I-I can't" he finally got out and was sickened even more to hear that it was a stutter.

So much for being truthful he thought to himself as he thought back upon the reason he had done what he had done in the first place. The burning eyes of the gathered adults meant nothing to him. The fear of what he would suffer later was far too great.

"And why not?" Sprout demanded, hands on her pudgy hips.

"Because he'll kill me if I do"

That got those gathered looking at each other now. And so that meant Dumbledore wasn't looking at him, but rather at Professor Snape.

"I didn't think it would have to come to this Draco" the elderly man sighed. "The Truth Potion, Severus, if you will"

The gray eyed boy's eyes widened. His Head of House stood, a hand now containing a vile of a silvery substance. Veritaserum. In the moment, all his bottled fear burst past the floodgates of his mind. Years of hard work to keep himself from committing such a crime were gone in two insanely terrified seconds.

"No, you can't!" he yelled and stumbled out of his seat to stagger away from the table. "It wasn't my fault - honest. The night before it happened I was woken up by some sort of creature. There was nothing I could do. I couldn't run or scream or make anything different. I may be nasty, but that was way I was raised! I didn't want anything to do with it. But the creature told me that if I didn't do what it wanted, it would kill me. Whatever powers it had, it made me see a vision of exactly how it would do it. So gave me that seed that told me I was to use it on the blonde foreign boy. It was trying test him to see he was worthy or something - I don't know why. It said its goal was also means to breed uncertainty for the other foreign boy with the black hair. It was something about a deal with someone. It was a trap"

Panting for breath after his mindless rant, Draco shrunk back away from them and backed up against the closest wall. Tsunade looked chilled as if his words had meant something to her, but something was out of place. It was the same for Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Sprout and Flitwick.

"And who, pray tell was this so-called creature?" Snape finally asked icily as he crossed his arms.

At the moment he was unable to answer, the other professors began to stand up against him.

Broken, he began to cry. "I-I don't want to die..."

"Then you should thought of that before" McGonagall snapped. "Now answer the question or we'll be forced to use the Veritaserum upon you"

"I can't..."

Everything seemed to move in slow motion for him as he watched Dumbledore give the nod and Snape stride forth to his side and pour the foal tasting liquid down his throat. It burned as it went down, numbing his body so that he couldn't move. He barely felt Snape lower him to the floor as he entered a foggy state of semi-consciousness. The words of the gathered adults around him seemed just as cloudy save for the words that were directed to him.

"Now Draco" he heard Dumbledore say. "Tell us who gave you the Kurenai Zetsumi seed"

"I cannot tell you that" he suddenly heard himself replying in a monotonous voice.

"Why are you unable to tell us?" he heard one of the other teachers ask.

"Because I do not know"

"Why is it that you do not you known?"

"It was dark. The creature did not give its name and I could not see whom it was save for the it's eerie pale skin and haunting eyes"

There was only one question more.

"And what did those eyes look like?"

And through the fog he heard himself answer they're question and it chilled him to the bone.

"Like a snake's"


	13. Chapter 13 Fox Tales and Hidden Names

Chapter Thirteen- Fox Tales and Hidden Identities

He slowly felt himself drifting back into the world, piece by piece. Senses bombarded with new sounds, smells and feelings, his mind tried to force them away. Too much for someone just waking up from a coma. His eyes slowly opened to the blinding light of the world around him and he winced. Today Uzumaki Naruto was by no means a morning person.

"Gah..." he groaned as he rolled over.

With his keen gaze he noted that he was alone with the Hogwarts Hospital Wing. He had been here many times in the last two months - mostly thanks to the Weasley Twins that is. How long had he been here? That wouldn't be an easy question to figure out until someone came by. And then he noticed something at the foot of his bed. A small stake of cards and a couple of packages.

"Hunh?"

Sitting up, the blonde fox boy reached for the first card.

Happy Birthday Otouto!

Too bad you couldn't be here to celebrate it

with me. You can believe me when I tell you

that Konoha isn't the same without you. You

keep out of trouble.

- Anaki

Shit! It was his birthday already? When had it been last? September 30th? That would mean he'd been out for over a week! Numbly the blonde boy set Iruka's card aside and picked up the next. It was from Fred and George.

Hey mate!

Hope you get better soon. Rumors have been

flying about the castle that Malfoy tried to kill

you and that you came back from the dead.

Anyway, since it's your birthday, we wanted to

give you a present (you'll find it in the largest

box along with a present from our mum).

- Gred & Feorge

He couldn't help but laugh at that one. The other cards were mostly from students that had witnessed the explosion in potions class. Many were to tell him that Malfoy had gotten expelled. Neville had sent him one of the recent additions of the Daily Prophet. On the front page spoke of Draco Malfoy's trial at the Ministry of Magic. The newspaper stated that since Malfoy was underage, he would not be sent for any length of time in the wizard prison Azkaban. The gray eyed boy had gotten an ever greater punishment - using an ancient spell, the Ministry of Magic bound his powers. Simply put, Draco Malfoy was now a Muggle!

Naruto shivered. He had known from the beginning that the gray eyed blonde had hated almost everyone, but why had he tried to kill Neville and him? Why did things always have to go from bad to worse? Just his luck. But trying not to dwell on the uncertainties, the blue eyed boy reach for the largest package. When he opened it, he was amazed to see what was inside. Baked goodies filled one half and a bright blue and orange sweater lay on the other. Snatching out the sweater, he was shocked to see that a red spiral had been knitted on the back as well. How did Mrs. Weasley now that? Spooky...

Shaking aside those thoughts, Naruto pulled the sweater over his head. It was almost having his old jumper back, but comfier. Looking back into the box, he noticed an old folded piece of parchment lying on the bottom of the box. Curious, he picked it up. Upon opening it, another piece of parchment fluttered out. Only two sentences were written upon it.

'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good'

'Mischief managed'

- F&G

"Hmmm..."

Naruto looked around and some found his wand lying on the nightstand table next to his bed. Picking up the wand, the blonde brought it rest atop the parchment.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!"

That was when the parchment began to bleed. It wasn't really bleeding, but rather invisible ink was becoming viable.

Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs

Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischife-Makers

are proud to persent

THE MARADER'S MAP

Naruto felt his mouth drop slightly open as it turned out to be an elaborate map of the castle.

Little dots were moving about with names attached to them. While searching, he also looked for familiar people. He found Sasuke and Saukra's dots in Professor Flitwick's Charms classroom, Fred and George's dots sneaking down a secret passage that lead out of the school and Professor Dumbledore's dot pacing his office.

He had just flipped the parchment around to look for himself when two other dots with names attached to them caught his attention. Not because they were special to anything, but because they were headed his way.

Tsunade

Shizune

"Kisama!" he cursed, then pointed his wand back at the map. "Mischief managed!"

As quick as he could, Naruto folded the map, stuffed it down the front of his sweater, grabbed out one of the large cookies from Mrs. Weasley and popped it into his mouth. Better to look like a fool doing something then fool doing nothing at all. Far too risky.

Seconds later two women enter the infirmary. The first was a vary tall lady with long blonde hair and the second lady was much shorter with short black hair. The taller of the pair seemed oblivious to everything around her as she bitched wildly to he companion about filthy teenagers.

"The boy actually stopped to ask me if they were real" the blonde woman snarled and pointed dramatically to he breasts. "He had the gall to tell me that only magic could have made them that big!"

"Well..." the dark haired woman shrugged.

"You're not helping Shizune!"

"Can I be truthful?"

"NO!"

Unable to help himself, Naruto burst out laughing and nearly choked on the cookie that was still in his mouth. The two women whirled around to see that their only patient was wide awake and had heard their conversation as the boy fell off the side of his bed choking and laughing. Naruto kept laughing even as the blonde woman's face turned a lovely shade red and a vain began to throb on her forehead.

"Shut up you brat!" she snapped threateningly, but that only made Naruto laugh harder.

The blonde woman looked about ready to beat the life out of him when her friend put a hand on her arm in restraint.

"Don't do it Tsunade" Shizune sighed. "The boy has just woken from a coma; it would be a shame to send him back"

"No it wouldn't!" Tsunade snarled, but refrained from doing anything. "I'd find it very peaceful!"

By that time his laughter had begun to get painful and Naruto let out a cry of pain as the seal on his stomach violently twisted. Biting down on his own tongue, the blonde was startled to realize that he was growing fangs. It was only then that he remembered what he had done.

He and the Kyuubi had begun to merge.

The two women Tsunade and Shizune were quick to act, hauling him back up onto the bed so that Tsunade to get a look at the seal.

"It's changing" she told her friend gravely. "Do you think its trying to get free?"

Shizune looked bewildered. "I do not know..."

"It... isn't... trying... to... get... out" Naruto hissed though clenched teeth. Why did these things always have to happen to him? "We are... merging..."

If these women knew about the Kyuubi, hadn't tried to kill him in his sleep and had still taken care of him no matter what, he didn't see the harm in telling the truth. And it wasn't as though they could kill him - this was Hogwarts and not Konoha. The rules were different here… or were they?

"Say that again" Tsunade gapped, not believing what the boy had just told them.

"I said... that... the fox... and I... are merging!" he growled. "Becoming... one..."

"Impossible! That isn't supposed to happen for at least another five years!"

"You… you mean it… was always… meant… to happen? The... explosion..."

Tsunade stopped going in the direction she was and started anew.

"You didn't make a deal with it did you?" she demanded.

"I... had too. I... didn't want... to die!"

There was silence as the pain inside him finally subsided. Inside his mouth he could feel fangs - sharp ones. Life just couldn't get any worse. The two women were looking down at in shock as the strength in his body suddenly left him and he collapsed back onto the white linen sheets of his hospital bed.

And it would stay that why for rest of the afternoon.

.-

"Slow down Kakashi!" Harry yelled tiredly. "What's the rush? You're whipping us like dogs here!"

But the silver haired man did not answer. With his sights set on returning to Konoha as soon as possible, he paid no heed the complaints of his three pupils. They had left Hidden Sand Village four days go. It had taken them five to get there in the going, but with Kakashi moving at top speeds, they were cutting those four days down by nearly two in returning.

"Please slow down!" Hermione whimpered. Her feet sorer then they had ever been before.

They're shot day long stay at Suna had been everything that the three wizards had hoped for. The chance to see what another village was like and to learn new things (Kakashi literately had to drag Hermione out of the library by her hair when it was time to leave). Save for the strange happenings like Ron's death and revival to the destruction of the sand demon Shakaku, things had really taken a turn.

"If you kill us, then I won't know if I'll be able to bring back the dead!" Ron shouted.

When they were finally in sight of Konoha... Kakashi's speed stepped up a few notches. Moving at what seemed like the speed of light, they were at the gates. As soon as they were admitted back into the village, the three young wizards collapsed into a panting heap on the ground. Even though they were so tired, they had strength to look up and see that the village had been elaborately decorated.

"What's going on?" they asked, generally interested.

"It's the festival celebrating the defeat of the fox demon Kyuubi" Kakashi replied quietly without looking at them.

"Another demon?" Ron asked, grimacing at the thought.

"A festival?" Harry added.

"This can be education!" Hermione grinned and pushed herself to her feet.

She was about to ask Kakashi more when he suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke. She looked to her two friends and was about to say something to them when a shrill voice cut her off again.

"Harry-kun, you're back!"

Eyes widening with absolute terror, Harry bolted to his feet and was off like a shot as Ino, leading a whole mob of girls, went after him. Ron and Hermione only sighed saddly shaking their heads.

"He doesn't seem too tired anymore" Hermione finally commented dryly as soon as Harry was out of sight.

Ron just snickered. "Hermi, fear can make even the laziest person alert. Oh speak of the devil - its Shikamaru!"

The duo turned to see Nara Shikamaru headed towards them along with Akumichi Choji, who was currently munching on some chips, and Inuzuka Kiba of all people, a shit eating grin plastered across his face. Upon reflex, Hermione bristled

"You guy weren't gone very long" the lazy chuunin remarked as he got them. "Were you not able to negotiate a new treaty with the Sand?"

"That's because Kakashi wouldn't let us stay long, even though they did reconsider and ask us to stay longer. And no, we didn't get them to make a new treaty"

The three boys frowned, as if hoping the redhead would have news like that for them, but Ron only smirked evilly in response.

"We've got an alliance!"

Shikamaru and Choji's eyes widened, while Kiba's mouth dropped to the ground.

"How the hell did you do that!" the dog genin gapped. "Nobody has managed since our villages were founded!"

"Well I did"

Hermione jabbed him hard in the ribs. "Ron, no bragging!"

"What can I say?" he grinned cheekily at her. "I came back from the dead and killed a demon all in one day. I call that something worth bragging about!"

Kiba snorted.

"Okay Ron-kun, enough with stories. How'd you do it?"

"Exactly how I said it"

"Then you're a worse liar then me!"

"I wouldn't disagree with that Dog Breath" Hermione smiled. "But this time he's telling the truth"

The three genin gapped again. They knew well enough that Hermione was a honest one.

"Tell us more!"

But before they could say anything, Kakashi reappeared next to them and Harry had made a full loop of the village, bagging to be hidden.

"You three are to come with me. The Hokage wishes to speak with you"

.-

For the second time since their arrival in Konoha; Harry, Ron and Hermione found themselves in the office of the Hokage. Seated behind his desk, the old man was staring at them intently as they entered the office with their jounin instructor. Nothing had changed other then the more formal robes he wore for such an occasion as today was.

He smiled as they drew near and waved a hand for them to be seated.

"Kakashi has told me some interesting things just now" Saturobi smiled. "Would you three be willing to tell me exactly what happened that night before you arrived at Hidden Sand Village?"

The three friends exchanged glances.

"Well... where should we begin?" Ron asked. "We were on the verge getting heat stroke when Kakashi finally let us have a rest. Tired as we were, Harry, Hermione and I decided to get a little sleep. I'm not sure how long we slept for, but I was the first to wake. The sun was setting when I walked up the ridge and was attacked by a giant sand snake"

"Hermione and I wore woken up by his yell" Harry continued. "Knowing that Ron was in trouble, we ran as fast as we could to help him. Hermione was quick to use her wind jutsu to destroy the creation; the attack was now on all three of use. Unable to see our attackers in the growing darkness, we had to do things blindly. Hermione called back the winds and I used my lighting jutsu, but it was Ron who flushed them out with his light jutsu to blind them. It was just three kids like us and only seconds' later one of the boys... he... umm..."

"Killed Ron sir" Hermione finished. "With a sand attack, he drilled a hole right through Ron's chest. I've had never seen a person die before and the fact that it was my own friend sent me into a rage. I - I attacked the boy with a forbidden jutsu that I had discovered in the library not long after having arrived here. I had known that I should give it to you, but I couldn't. In secret I learned the Shards of the Underworld and it was upon that boy whom I used it. Had Harry not stopped me, I would have let it kill him..."

The brunette girl faltered, biting her lip as she received shocked looks from both the Sandaime and Kakashi. They both understood the seriousness of the missing technique. And much to her relief, Ron was quick to get their gazes off of her and back to him.

"Well as you've been told, I did die. What happened for me is something on I know. I was summoned forth to stand before the God of Life and Death to be judge. It was... beautiful..." the redhead said absently. "But I was not to be judged. It told me that I a descendant of a great wizard to who they had granted to powers of life and death. I was to be the first descendant in over a thousand years to receive those powers. While my family knows of the ledged, no one believed it. It told me that it was going to send me back because I had a purpose to fulfill. Simply put, my powers are limited until they needed. The limit is that I cannot kill or bring back life recklessly without causing damage to myself. The chaos it would create might destroy the world otherwise. As an avatar of these powers, I must not abuse them or else suffer a punishment far worse then death. So I'm a Deathdealer - when justice is needed, I can take life away; and I am a Lifegiver - when someone has died unjustly, I can give life back"

They stood in silence for a few moments, before Harry picked the conversation back up gain.

"By then Hermione was a wreck. She was crying hard and I couldn't help but join here" the green eyed boy said, decided it best to continue on from where Hermione had left off. "It was all happened so fast after that. Ron suddenly stood back up, he's eyes pure black and a strange voice started to yell at the boy who had killed him. It told him that Ron was its scion and he should hope to be forgiven. Then Ron was back. He looked at the boy and told him he sensed a demon. The boy said he had to sedate its hunger and Ron then went and dragged the demon out of his body and destroyed it! It was the most amazing thing that I have ever seen!"

Silence once again filled the office. The Sandaime looked between the three of them before he finally looked to Kakashi. His eyes were filled with hope.

"From what I was told by one of the Suna medic-nins, Shakaku's vassal still retains the demon's power. If Ron was able to destroy Shakaku without damaging Gaara, returning he sanity because of that as well as letting the boy keep the powers then maybe he'd be able to help us destroy Kyuubi once and for all"

"What?" Hermione gasped and turned on Kakashi, her crossed and that stern look upon her face. "Didn't you just tell us that the festival today was because of it was defeated?"

The jounin grinned and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Should I tell them Hokage-sama? There is your law to consider"

"What law?" Harry and Ron asked dumbly, but where pointedly ignored by the two mean.

The Sandaime looked thoughtful for a minute before nodding. "These children do not hail from this village and if anything can be done, then they should have to know the truth about the Kyuubi. As it is my law, I lift it this once so you may tell these children" he stopped and turned to them. "But what you are told is to remain a secret. While the adults of the village know, their children do not. No one beyond this office must know what you are about to be told"

Intrigued, the trio nodded earnest.

"Well then" Kakashi sighed and crossed his arms. "Here is your first real history lesson. Twelve years ago today a monstrous fox demon with nine tails attacked this village - that much you should already know. At the time, our Hokage was the Yondaime and he had been my sensei when I was your age. What happened that day was a tragedy. People were being slaughtered and there was no way that we could stop the monster. So our Yellow Flash was took on the beast himself. He knew of a way the defeat the fox and it was at the cost of his own life. He sacrificed in own life to bind the soul of the demon into the body of a newborn child. A Jinchuriki, a human sacrifice"

Hermione gasped, horrified by the revelation while Harry and Ron nodded, remembering what Temari and Kankoru had told them about their brother.

"Many had seen what had happened and they were quick to believe that the child was the monster itself " Kakashi continued. "They wanted to kill the child outright, but due to a law that would also be made that night, no one was to harm the child or to tell their own children about what lay sleeping within the vassal"

"And who is it… that carries this demon?" Harry barely dared to ask.

"He was one of my students before you came. The vassal of the Kyuubi is Uzumaki Naruto"

Harry's mouth dropped opened and he suddenly remembered everything from the dream that the two of them had shared. He remembered Naruto had been holding his stomach in pain just as he had held his scar. And then other things began to click too.

"Harry, the prophecy!" Hermione gasped jumping up upon the balls of her feet with excitement "Things are making sense now!"

"What prophecy?" Saturobi and Kakashi suddenly asked together.

The three wizards blushed with embarrassment. They hadn't told anyone about Harry's dream.

"About three weeks ago I had a dream. Actually I shared it with Naruto. In it, these strange beings gave us a warning in the form of a cryptic prophecy. We hadn't been able to figure out much of it and Naruto is still in the dark about it. What you just said confirms that the two us our the ones mentioned at the beginning"

"Don't forget about the rest of it too" Ron added enthusiastically. "That means you stand from the 'child baring Nature's Might' - you lightning bolt scar! And Naruto would also stand for 'child baring Evil's Sight' - he a demon inside him!"

Hermione suddenly turned to Kakashi. "What did you say the Yondaime was called?"

The sliver haired man looked puzzled for a minute.

"The Yellow Flash"

"Exactly! What was his name?"

"Minato... what are you trying to get at?"

Hermione let out a squeal of triumph and proceeded to do a victory dance. Harry and Ron smiled, exchanging high fives with her.

"Yellow Flash, Golden Storm - turn yellow into gold and Minato means storm!" she was smiling widely now as she turned to the Sandaime. "He didn't happen to have any children did he?"

"How did you know that?" old man gapped.

"Because of the verse 'child of the Golden Storm, its time to raise you hand. Beware of things you can not see that seek a way to capture thee'!"

Kakashi shock his head sadly then. "But that can't be. Minato-sensei's wife Kushina died along with their child during the birth. Kaji-otouto was his only child"

Ron ignored him.

"'Both of fire and of fate, forced so young through Destiny's Gate'! Harry was born in July and is a Leo - a sign of Fire and if I'm not mistaken, Kaji means fire in this language! Destiny's Gate I believe stands for the fact that they both have roles of great importance to their respective worlds. I does make sense!"

Kakashi turned back to the Sandaime.

"Tell them that they're wrong!" the silver haired man demanded, a note of urgency entering his voice. "Minato-sensei's child is dead, I know that. The medic-nins told me!"

The Saturobi only sighed, a frown coming upon his deeply lined face. "The medic-nins told you what I told them to tell you. I have lied and even after all these years I know the child should have been given to you, Rin and Obito, but I feared the worst at the time. Kakashi, Minato-sama's son still lives"

"What? You really mean that Kaji is alive? How could you not tell me?"

The Sandaime sighed. "For the safety of the boy, I could not"

"Well tell me now"

"I cannot"

"What? Why not?"

"I did what I did because I believed it was the right thing to do" the Sandaime said quietly. "There were many rumors coming into the village that there were plans to murder the Yondaime's unborn child. I still believe that - walls have ears you know"

"You can't do that!" Kakashi snarled and took a step forward. "Not after all this time!"

Fearing the worst would happen if she didn't stop him now, Hermione whipped her wand from its secret place within cloths and sent out the strongest stunner spell she knew.

"Stupefy!"

The force of the spell and its unfamiliar magic caught the silver haired man off guard. Kakashi was knocked to the ground hard and did not get up again. He was unconscious.

"Sorry sir" Hermione smiled weakly after hiding her wand again. "I know we made a promise not use out wizardry here, but I didn't think there was any other way to stop him"

Saturobi nodded. "You are forgiven child. Sometime one must do what they must not in certain situations. It will be easier to discuss this matter with your sensei when his head is in the right place"

The three wizards turned to leave, but Harry stopped. Something was nagging at him.

"Sir, can I ask you a question?"

"Feel free"

"Is the son of the Yondaime who I think he is?"

The Sandaime smiled. "Very wise child" The elderly man stretched out a wrinkled finger and pointed to the far wall. Upon the wall was a picture of a young man with spiky golden blonde hair and blue eyes.

"I'm right then aren't I"

"Yes, you are. That is also the reason why I could not tell Kakashi the truth because he would have a hard time excepting what I have done…"

"Uzumaki Naruto is Namikaze Kaji"


	14. Chapter 14 Into the Forbidden Forest

Chapter Fourteen - Into the Forbidden Forest

After having been forced to remain two days in the Hospital Wing with Tsunade and Shizune, Naruto could officially say that he had seen it all. Tsunade was psychotic that was for sure, but from what she told him about her days as a genin and the fact that she had both ero-sennin and the snake-bastard on her team, he would've been surprised if she wasn't a little bit crazy.

So when she was finally decreed that there was nothing more she could do about him or his seal, she chased him out saying that she was one of the most annoying people she had never met and hopped he never came back. It must have been because of the super glue he had smeared all over her seat that first night. Though when he stuck his head back in the room to say goodbye, he found that she was actually smiling.

No wanting to ruin the moment, he yanked his head back out and left before she found out he was sill there.

But he was happy to be free and to get his chance get back to go back normal. That wasn't in the cards though. Everyone who had seen or heard about his accident kept asking him questions of all kinds and others even gave him funny looks, as if they figured he was immortal or something. The first week and would driven him insane if it hadn't been for Sasuke and his suspicions, debunking whatever student was about to jump to conclusions. At least that what it was like all the time that he wasn't razing his about what really happened. Wisely keeping his mouth shut, Naruto taken to avoiding his dark haired teammate like he was the plague.

The days of that month kept flying by and Halloween was approaching fast. By that morning however he had discovered the merging he created him his own costume. He had fangs, claws, cat-like eyes (which thank Kami were still blue) and little furry fox ears that poked through his spiky blonde hair. He would have been terrified as to what everyone would say about it, but thankfully everyone else was sporting some kind of costume that let him blend in.

He just didn't know that the worst was still to come…

.-

"Halloween has the best feast and activities all year" Lavender Blown was saying enthusiastically as the second year Gryffindors changed classes that afternoon. "Well aside from Christmas, if you don't go home that is"

Sakura walked along with the two girls that had become her friends since school had started. While she considered them to be vain and unnerving at times, she knew could have done worse then Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil - they actually reminded her a lot of Ino. So hearing what they had to say about special occasion was actually kind of cool.

"Exactly!" Parvati giggled.

"But this is year is nothing like last year. We weren't allowed to dress up last year and the most exciting thing this was that a troll got into the school"

The three had decided the night before to dress up, at Parvati's suggestion, as fairies. The two young witches had laughed happily, explaining to her about different charms and spells to create the best looking outfit without having to buy one. The transfigured their cloths, gathered their makeup and in ten minutes they had been transformed.

Lavender had come out dressed in blue, her hair glittering with silver sparkles. Parvati had come out similar, this time in yellow with gold sparkles in her hair. For Sakura, she would be dressed in red with clear sparkles. They only needed one thing and that was to transfigure their wings properly. After many failed attempts, the pink haired girl sucked up her pride and went to ask Naruto for help.

To say the least, her blonde haired teammate was at a loss for word gapping at her like a fish out of water. From the look of his costume, Lavender saying he looked something like a were-beast, he would be able to help. Thankfully Naruto had picked his mouth back up and helped them with their wings.

"So, do you think we'll win the contest?" she finally asked.

Parvati smiled. "I'm sure we will"

Sakura wasn't so sure.

"Oh stop pouting Sakura" Lavender sighed. "All you can do is think about what Sasuke thinks about how you look… not that I'm not thinking myself"

The pink haired kunochi glared at her friend.

"He's mine!"

They laughed. "We know, we know! We don't need to hear it again"

Together the tree entered the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, everyone else also dressed up in their own spectacular costumes. Sakura made her way over to Gryffindor table in hopes of finding Sasuke, who had not dressed up at all. But the Uchiha was nowhere to be seen. She had almost given up hope of finding him when she heard a familiar voice laughing down at the end of the table and an other familiar voice that was snapping back.

"Shut up dobe!"

She found Naruto seconds later, cat-like eyes twinkling mischievously and a triumphant smirk directed at Sasuke. Turning to look at Sasuke, her mouth dropped open this time. He was dressed up like… like…

"But you look great as a vampire! Sakura, tell him he look good!"

Sakura giggled. "He's right, you do"

"Leave me alone" Sasuke snarled crossing his arms and whirling around, his robes billowing.

That only caused Naruto to laugh harder

"You even have that cheesy gothic flare! Fred and George told me once they had sunk out of the house one day to head into the non-magical region of England to watch a movie that they nearly killed themselves laughing through the entire time"

She couldn't help but giggle again as the dark haired boy glowered the blonde. With the expert use of his transfiguration skills, it seemed that Naruto had whipped up a spell that caused Sasuke to grow fangs and to make his already pale skin look as if had turned on a black light. And the rest of the Great Hall was laughing too. People were stopping to comment the irritated boy on his new looks.

Sasuke crossed his arms and smirked. "Well at least I don't look like something the cat dragged in"

Naruto growled, fangs bared. "I do not teme!"

"Well its good to see that coma hasn't hurt that wonderful sense of humor of yours dobe"

"I am not a dobe!"

Sakura paused a moment, remembering what she had heard from a fifth year about Naruto stay in the Hospital Wing.

"So why did you have to go and piss off the new matron?" she asked.

The blonde was shocked out of his anger by her question.

"Hunh?"

Sasuke, who was still glaring, rolled his eyes. "Do you really try to be that stupid or does it just come naturally to you? That woman is one of the Legendary Sennin!"

The blonde only snorted.

"Oh yeah, she told me that. The only thing she's good at making herself look thirty years younger and her breasts as big as watermelons! You should have heard her babbling about everything - it was annoying! I swear I never thought I'd meet a person that was a bigger braggart then Kiba, but I have. She's a compulsive madwoman with a love for gambling and beating on men!"

His two partners gave him a bland look.

"But I can totally understand the last part," the blonde boy continue. "Being stuck with ero-sennin and the snake-bastard as teammates is her genin days must have caused some serious mental damage"

There was a short silence as Naruto turned away from her and Sasuke. He was hiding something…

Suddenly, for no reason at all, Naruto cried out, grasping his stomach in agony. What was going on?

"Dobe? Naruto! What's happening?" Sasuke pushed past her to see what was happening.

"Hey Naruto! What's with the tail?" one of the Ravenclaws at the next table piped up for whole hall to hear.

Sakura had never seen Naruto turn so pale so fast. Indeed the blonde had gown a long bushy tail the same color as his hair. But this was no joke. Naruto's feline eyes were filled with terror. Without replying, he bolted from the hall, crashing into students along the way.

"Naruto, wait!"

Unable to stay without answers, Sasuke took off after Naruto and knew that Sakura wasn't far behind her. Ignoring the protesting professors, the remaining two of genin of Team Seven sprinted out of the Great Hall. Where would Naruto go and hide in hopes that no one would find him?

Bursting into the front foyer, he found that the two large double doors stood open

"The Forbidden Forest"

With Sakura now at his side, he set his sights on the forest. They had reached the little hut at the forest's edge when the giant groundskeeper Hagrid came wandering out.

"Hagrid-san!" Sakura called out urgently as they caught sight of them. "Have you seen a boy with spiky blonde hair go by just now?"

The giant looked down at her gravely. "I was jus' in the forest meetin' with the centaur herd when somein' went runnin' by. I doin' know if it were a boy though - that thin' had tails, lot oh tails. The centaurs say it was a beast"

She looked at him.

"That had to be Naruto"

He nodded. "Good"

"What are yah two talkin' 'bout?" Hagrid asked. "Yah not thinkin' 'bout goin' there are yah?"

"Its nothing" Sasuke forced a smile. "Thank you for the help"

Before the giant say a thing more, the duo was off again. He could hear Hagrid yelling for them to stop. As his voice grew weaker, he could barely hear what he was saying about the forest being call the Forbidden Forest for a reason. But the forest behind Hogwarts wasn't much different from the Forest of Death back in Konoha. Both Sasuke and Sakura had faced monsters like giant centipedes - what lurked within these branches couldn't be must different.

And as they traveled deeper into the forest, it grew darker. Leaves crunched beneath their feet as they ran and the think icy fog sought to consume them until they couldn't see where that were going.

"Which way should we go?" Sakura finally asked.

Sasuke looked around.

"I think we should try that direction" he replied and pointed toward the north-east.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes"

They continued they're race through the trees and in minute broke out into a moonlit clearing. He looked back at her then and for a second he looked like a beast with his bright red Shringan eyes.

"Umm... do you really think you'll need those?" she whispered.

"Better safe then sorry"

There was the sound of movement to the right. Turning Sasuke's eyes grew wide and Sakura could gasp in shock. What was standing before them could only be described as a man crossed with a horse. The torso of a man sat upon the body of a great horse with an azure coat. A centaur.

"Would you be the children that seek the half-beast?" the creature ask.

Sasuke nodded numbly.

"Then I may be able help you. Grave things the stars tell me are in wait for your friend"

"What grave things?" he hesitated to ask.

"Dark things. He has not listened to his own warning to - 'beware of thing you cannot see that seek away to capture thee'. Your friend is in great danger"

"But who are we to help him?" Sakura insisted. "What's with the riddles?"

The centaur shook his head.

"That is how we centaur speak. Are knowledge comes from the stars and the stars make sure that those its given to must work it out themselves. That is the power choice child. But I shall give you a warning of your own. The stars tell me this and this is what I shall tell you - 'the roles of hunter and hunted have been changed - once the Fox chased down the Snake, but now the Snake chases down the Fox. If the Snake tames the Fox, then all is lost'. Beware of the red eyed snake, children. He is the real evil that lurks around here"

The centaur finished his warning and began to walk away.

"Wait!" The dark haired boy watched as Sakura stepped forward. "What's your name?"

The creature gazed down at them with its all-knowing eyes. "Should you ever need my help, ask the one called Hagrid to bring you to Sethril. Goodbye now, Haruno Sakura of the Two Minds"

Sakura gasped and staggered backwards into him. The centaur was gone quicker then they could blink, back into the mist it had come from.

Confused, he had asked. "What did he mean by 'Two Minds'?"

The pink haired girl blanched. "It's nothing… really!" and as an after thought "So... what do you think that all means?"

Sasuke frowned, but let his question die. "Half of that riddle is clear. Roles being changed - in nature foxes hunt snakes, but in this case a snake is hunting a fox. By the Fox he must have been talking about Naruto, though I don't know why. But the Snake, that one I don't entirely sure. I it was Orochimaru at first till the centaur said the Snake has red eyes - Orochimaru's are gold"

He scratched the top of his head in confusion.

"Also what would the Snake Sennin want with Naruto anyway?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"I think we have to deal with someone else who has a thing for snakes"

.-

Crouched next to an old overturned tree, Naruto allowed himself to ride out the next wave of pain. They were getting more frequent now. He could feel claws biting into the flesh of his palms as he squeezed them tight and itch of fur that had only just begun to grow. The sensation was maddening. He wanted to claw at his body furiously until the pain was gone but held back. That wouldn't do any good.

Opening his strange new eyes, he looked at his surroundings with blurry lenses.

"Gotta... keep... moving..."

He stood up and stretched, aching all over. How long it would be till the next merging pain he did not know. Best to keep moving. Then his ears pricked sharply. Was someone calling him? Listening intently for a moment, Naruto realized that the voices he could hear in the distance belonged to Sasuke and Sakura.

"Kisama" he growled to himself. "Why can't they just leave me alone?"

He took off at run.

'Maybe you should go back to the castle. You'll have everyone worried by now'

'Kyuubi?'

'Who else would it be?' the demon chided. 'The Ghost of Christmas Past?'

'Gee and you say I'm too human for you. I should spend more time around these wizards - they're humanizing you!'

"Bite your tongue brat! I'm just trying make sure you don't do the stupid thing'

'I don't need running commentary from the demon gallery right now' the blonde thought bitterly at the fox. 'I'm trying to run away right now'

'Fine, I'll leave you alone. But I should warn you, we are being hunted... and by something that is not the Uchiha brat or the Haruno girl'

The Kyuubi's thoughts vanished and Naruto was left with the instincts of a hunted fox. He was being hunted and by something that wasn't Sasuke or Sakura? Fear fueled the beast within him and drove him to run again. He listened not the trivial words that his teammates shouted in the distance and shrunk down to the ground. He couldn't even fell the pain of the transformation any more either.

Using his heightened sense of smell, Naruto watched for anything that moved - anything that might endanger it. He heard a voice calling to him, but this time it wasn't that of Sasuke or Sakura. This one was different. This one was inhuman. Looking around with his powerful eyes, the blonde growled, his hackles rising.

The was suddenly the sound that reminded it of slithering. A snake...

Continuing to growl, Naruto stood his ground and waited.

.-

"I think I hear something..." the pink haired girl whispered as she stopped next one of the forest's massive trees.

Sasuke sighed. Of all the moments for that girl to get scared, it had to be now. They had been walking for hours and they had found nothing. No sight of Naruto whatsoever. But he couldn't disagree with her because he could hear it too. It sounded like growling.

"I think that might be him?"

"What should be do?"

"Stay here. We don't know what he's capable of now..."

Together they peered out from behind the tree and into a small opening. Sure enough Naruto was there, but he didn't look like Naruto anymore. Crouched down on all fours was a snarling beast. Nine long tails twitched uneasily, cat-like eyes watched everything and razor sharp claws waited to tear whatever came too close to pieces. He looked frightened.

"Naruto!"

"Kisama!" Sasuke snapped and followed Sakura as she rushed over to the blonde.

But nothing that he had been anticipating happened. Naruto fell backward in shook, eyes wide.

"Sakura-chan?" the blonde asked, and shook his head. "Why did you follow me?"

"Because you had us worried you baka" she snapped and Sasuke had to admire her for that.

"Worried? Why? Don't you realize what's happening?" Naruto turned and brandished the nine tails that grown out his pants. "Tell me Sakura, what else has nine tails?"

Together Sasuke and Sakura gasped. "Kyuubi!"

It all made sense now. The Fox.

"They are my curse, these tails..." The blonde boy nodded, his voice dry and bitter and even ashamed. "The Kyuubi was never really defeated. That was just what the children were told. Well that's not true. I have the soul of the Kyuubi inside me. The Yondaime sacrificed his life as well as mine that day twelve years ago. His death and my curse saved Konoha, but I was hated. I've tried so hard to prove that I wasn't the monster…" his voice faltered for a moment and tears began to stream down his cheeks. "You wanted to know how I survived that explosion? That is the reason. The fox and I are becoming one... and its all because I did not want to die"

"Well I don't care about the stupid demon" Sasuke found himself yelling. "You're out teammate - our friend! But we have to get out of here now before -"

His words died off as Naruto's eyes began to glow. A great abnormal wind began to blow around them as twin chakra, one red and one blue surrounded the blonde. Sakura cried out as he began to change completely now before their eyes. After what felt like hours of watching, a blinding flash erupted from where he stood and when it was over and Naruto stood before them, no longer the annoying loudmouth he had once been.

Golden furred, blue of eye and the size small horse, it twitched its nose and snarled.

It could smell something out there...

The fox looked to them and tossed its head to one side. Trying to interpret animal body language, Sasuke asked "You want us run?"

The fox glared at him as if to say 'what do you think you stupid bastard?'. But before they could do anything a great cloud of darkness dropped out of the trees above them. It attacked the fox immediately, stretching out and surrounding it as if the swallow it up. Howling, the fox tried to fight back.

Always quick with the charms, Sasuke pulled out his wand, pointed and yelled out the first spell that came to mind.

"Solarious Incantartum!"

Light far greater then the basic Lumos spell shot forth from his wand in a channeled blast that struck the shadow creature strait on. It let out a hissing scream as it was illuminated, it's bright red snake-like shinning down on him with pure undiluted rage.

"It's the Snake!" Sakura cried in horror as the fox managed to wriggle out of it's ghostly grip and rush over to them.

It motioned to its back with its head.

"Get on?"

The fox nodded impatiently. Not wanting to see what the snake creature would do to them, Sasuke and Sakura leapt up onto the it's back. Without warning, the large fox lurched forward into a brake-neck run that almost caused its two riders to go falling off the back. Holding tight the fox's neck, the dark haired boy winced as he felt Sakura begin to squeeze him so tight around the waist that he nearly gagged. He could hear the girl nearly crying with fear, but that was nothing compared to what he saw when he finally looked around.

The creature was following, bursting through the trees like smoke as it raced to keep up with the three.

"Can't you go any faster?" he gasped near the fox's ear. "That thing is gaining on us!"

The fox growled, but it sounded more like a chuckle to the boy who was riding. Its canine jaws curved up into what looked like a smirk just as the speed was taken up about another hundred notches. Sasuke really did gag this time as a sob burst free of Sakura's lungs as she squeezed him with all her might. The forest was flying past in flashes of gold, every tree seemingly vanishing from their path as the fox dodged past them with expert ease.

They tore past a herd of unicorns that had been grazing undisturbed in one of forest's few moonlit meadows. They continued their meal as if nothing happened when they flashed past, but sound of whinnying screams could be heard as the creature enter their presence. Sasuke and Sakura dared only a momentary look back to see that the unicorns had begun to attack the creature, giving them more time to escape.

As though it thought it might help, the fox leapt into the trees and began to vault from branch to branch, causing Sakura to shriek in terror. They missed one branch, but all nine tails shot out to grab at branches to brace they're fall.

"Are you crazy!" Sakura screamed when she had gotten her voice back. "You could have gotten us killed!"

The fox made a sighing grunt before continuing on foot again. It only took three minutes after that for the trio to make it out of the forest and back onto the grounds of Hogwarts next to Hagrid's hut. The fox sat back and this time the duo came tumbling off. Hearing the commotion, Hagrid, whom they had left behind nearly three hours ago, came rushing out.

While the giant man stared with wide eyes at the enormous fox that was sitting before him, tooth grin on its face, Sakura made a mad dash for the pumpkin patch where she could be heard painfully retching up her supper. Gasping for breath after that exhilarating ride, Sasuke took his moment to look over at the fox.

Although the cat-like eyes still contained a look of pain, they sparkled with mischief. Naruto.

For a second more the fox sat there before the sound of crunching bones came to his ears and he watched as the beast slowly began to transform, like Professor McGonagall, back into the boy it had once been. Naruto swayed on his feet before collapsing to his knees.

"Naruto?"

"... I don't know..." the blonde yawned. "Get back to me on that later..."

Fighting back the urge to roll his eyes, Sasuke noticed that his teammate had not left this ordeal completely unchanged. Naruto still had the cat eyes, the fangs, the claws and the pair of foxy ears the poked out from the spiky locks of his unruly blonde hair. Finally Naruto groaned and looked back up at him.

"You know what?"

"What?"

"We're in deep shit"


	15. Chapter 15 The Meaning of Family

Chapter Fifteen - The Meaning of Family

The sun shone brightly that afternoon, illuminating the sky and looking like a giant sunflower had been hung up for all the world to see. The warmth of midsummer drifted with the sent of rich earth and pine. In one of the many spiraling fields, three young students perfected they're style and smiled happily with jobs well done. It was the only girl of the group, one of plum colored hair that decided to put aside the training and focus her attention on her sensei who had his back to a nearby tree, a gentle smirk on his face.

"So it's going to be a boy?" she asked with uncertainty. "How can you be so sure?"

The young man in which the question was directed at laughed, electric blue eyes sparkling with good humor. He had a wild mane of blonde hair that casually dropped down into his face. He grinned back at the girl before making a dramatic reply.

"I've survived Kushina-chan's beating haven't I. She says its going to be a girl - 'mother's intuition' as she calls it. But from the way that kid kicks, I know its a boy"

The next person to speak was a boy of raven hair wearing goggles, a pathetic smirk, and an ever present toothpick in his mouth.

"Well you what that means don't you sensei?" the boy snickered evilly. "He's going to be a mama's boy!"

But the grinning boy was suddenly taken down in a full body tackle, laughing the whole way. His attacker was another boy of silver hair, the lower half of his face hidden by a mask.

"Bite your tongue Obito! How dare you say such a thing about our little brother!"

The raven haired boy stuck out his tongue, causing the girl to laugh. The blonde man smiled down at them, as if appraising them for some unknown reason.

"I don't see what wrong with that Kakashi" he laughed. "My boy will have to love his mother or be subject to the 'beast' that hides behind that gentle exterior"

"That's Kushina-sama for you!"

They all burst out laughing.

"And what am I?"

They laughter was suddenly brought to an abrupt halt and they four cringed slightly as their eyes landed upon a short young woman with tawny brown hair, wide amber eyes and a large stomach coming their way. She had her hands on her hips and that stern 'don't mess with me' look written across her face.

"Nothing Kushina-chan!" the blonde grinned nervously, backing away as if he was about to try and hide behind his three students. "Just the kids and I talking about nothing..."

She didn't look on bit convinced.

"You better hope it was just that Minato..." she growled, but that annoyed look was betrayed as a smile spilt out across her face. "The baby's kicking again!"

The blonde grinned, jumped to his feet and put his arms around his wife, both hands resting on her stomach in hopes that he would feel a kick too.

"So have you chosen a name for him yet Koibito?" Minato smiled.

Kushina frowned. "How many times do I have to tell you that its going to be a girl?"

"Too many because its going to a boy!"

Obito sighed and turned to the girl next to him. "What do you think Rin? Do you think he'll survive this time?"

Rin scrunched up her face as she scrutinized the couple before her, and then shook her head.

"Nope. Minato-sensei is not going to win this one"

Their blonde sensei scowled at them playfully. "Thanks for the vote of confidence kids!"

"Hey! I'm on your side!" Kakashi snapped, glaring at his teammates.

"Geeze Kakashi, your such a suck up!" Obito said, pretending to gag before pouncing on the silver haired boy and proceeded to try and mess up his hair.

The two boys fought it out until a pair of fingers suddenly latched onto their ears, tightening until they were crying out in pain.

"Behave boys" Kushina snapped. "Not fighting around the pregnant lady" her golden eyes softened as she looked down at her stomach. "Well just in case it does happen to be a boy, I have two names picked out. For a girl I have chosen Nojiko"

"And for a boy?"

"Kaji, because he would be as fire"

.-

It was only eight in morning of October Thirty-first when Hermione crawled out of bed looking like death had wormed over. Her hair was out of its usual braid and the frizzy nature magnified as if she had stuck her finger in a light socket. Her was pasty, she had bags under her eyes, her back ached and she dreaded to think about how her breath smelt. It took ten minutes of deliberation if she was to leave her room and cross the apartment to get to the bathroom on the other side before either Harry or Ron seen her.

The smell of tea and Halloween goodies filled the air as she poked her head of her bedroom. Thankfully Harry knew how to cook in such situation as she didn't think she'd have what it took to meet the demands of his and Ron's abnormally large stomachs. Taking a deep breath, Hermione tiptoed silently down the hall with the best stealth she could muster but stopped dead when the apartment door next to her burst open to admit her least liked of people and a scream was issued through throughout the entire building.

Both of the boys she didn't want to see at that moment came rushing out of the kitchen, wondering who had been murdered, but stopped when they caught sight of her. Sighing, Hermione didn't bother to smack that boy cowering away from her, glared daggers at her two friends and stomped off towards the bathroom. After the door was slammed shut , she leaned against the door. At the same time as she looked at her hideous appearance in the mirror, she also listen to Konohamaru outside raving that he never see a girl look that hideous in his whole life.

A quick shower help her predicament. Clean with her hair braided back again, Hermione looked as normal as she always had again. When she finally entered the kitchen, the three boys looked at her.

"No - a - word" she growled. "Not - a - word"

She snatched a cup from the cupboard and poured herself some tea. The hot liquid soothed her nerves and she returned to sit down at the table.

"What?"

The three boys continued to look at her silently until the younger boy raised his hand and began to wave it about.

"Permission to speak freely" Konohamaru asked.

"If its one of your insults brat, you know you'll be suffering for it"

The younger boy looked as though he was sorely debating the thought before that familiar little smirk broke out upon his face.

"Well I always knew you weren't completely human"

Konohamaru flinched back to avoid a smack that never came. His eyes widened and he looked at her as if she had grown two heads. Jumping out of his seat he pointed wildly at her.

"It isn't her! Some kind of beast had eaten her and taken her body! The merciful gods have smiled down on me and have finally rid me that of the wretched harpy!"

That earned him the smack.

Hermione smiled as she sipped her tea. "Keep dreaming squirt"

"I'll always have that" he pouted as he rubbed him head tenderly.

Harry smiled too. "So what were you saying about Kiba?"

The smaller brunette grinned cheekily before bursting into elaborations of what he, Udon and Moegi had spied on. Apparently the dog genin was unable to stay his tongue and had been blabbing to Shino that he planned to try and scare the living daylights out of they're three foreign friends. Ron's laughter through the whole thing revealed that he had been planning the same thing too.

"Hell," the redhead laughed. "If Inuzuka Kiba thinks he can scare me, he has another thing coming"

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "Seeing Voldemort's face on the back of Quirrill's head at the end of school was enough to give me nightmares for years"

Hermione could only shake her head.

"That's nothing compared to the horror I've witnessed all my life"

"And what's that?" Konohamaru grinned with interest.

"My father…" she grimaced. "Singing the horrible classical music he always plays at his dental clinic while in the shower for the whole house to hear. I think I can survive anything that mutt has to dish out"

The three boys shook their heads sympathetically. She finally turned to Ron.

"So what are we going to be doing tonight?"

"A séance!"

"You can do that?" Harry asked. "Wouldn't that be kinda dangerous?"

Ron smirked. "Of course I can. What do you think I've been training for all month? A simple summoning of spirits won't hurt me. Actually its encouraged to help spirits that have refused to leave the world to carry on and those who have to connect with those they left behind and help then to carry on"

While Harry and Ron continued to talk about the basics of their training and the party, completely oblivious to the other two at the table with them, Hermione felt Konohamaru poke her arm. When she looked at him, the younger boy looked almost scared.

"I don't like this" he whispered. "Something bad is going happen to tonight"

"What do you mean?" she whispered back.

"I don't know, but I know that Ron-niisan and Harry-niisan should be very careful. You'll make surenobody gets hurt won't you?"

"Of course"

"Thanks" the boy smiled. "I gotta go. Goodbye Hermione-neechan"

Hermione could only stare in shock at Konohamaru's back as he existed the apartment before she could say a word. Nee-chan? Did the bane of her existence really see her as an older sister. She must have heard him wrong.

"Earth to Hermione"

Snapping out of her daze, the bushy haired girl looked back at Harry and Ron.

"Yeah?"

"You were all spaced out there for a minute" Harry replied. "Where did Konohamaru go?"

She blinked a few times before shrugging.

"Home, I think"

.-

Night came sooner then they expected, the sun sinking over the mountains and plunging the village into darkness. They sat together in a circle on the tiny living room floor, festive treats that Ron had gotten from home and even a few hundred candle spread out around the house. All during the day Ron prepared for the every detail to the mystic pentagram he crafted in salt upon the floor, a large black candle at the heart of the star. He had coupled his wizard magic with his shinobi talents as he stylized a circle with both Chinese and Latin symbols. It was a double interlocking pentagram, the symbol of the Phoenix, rather then the single pagan five star that represented Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit. He had to be extra careful for tonight. It was All Hallow's Eve, the Night of the Death in which the spirits of the departed have greater access to the physical world.

Standing again, the redhead faced his two friends with a big grin.

"Blessings?"

"Check!" Harry smiled.

"Salt protection circle?"

Hermione yawned. "Check!"

"Candles?"

"Look around stupid"

The little apartment living room was filled with waxy goodness. Ron grinned again. "Its perfect all we need to do now is join hands around the circle and begin"

"And what are you three planning on doing?"

Ron let out a frightened yelp before whipping around and to look up sheepishly at Kakashi. It was surprising how their teacher had entered the apartment so silently that they hadn't known he was there until he spoke.

Three faces turned red. "Nothing..."

The sliver haired man gave them a critical look with his one uncovered eye.

"From the looks of this mess, I find that unlikely. Give me one good reason that I should believe you?"

The redhead rubbed his back of neck in embarrassment.

"I dunno. Because I'm cute?"

Hermione, who at the time had been drinking a cup of pumpkin tea, nearly snorted it up in a fit of laughter. "You? Cute?" she asked, falling over in mock death. "Give me a brake!"

Ron pouted at her and snapped indignantly, "I'll have you know that I am a very fine specimen!"

That comment only caused the girl to laugh harder.

Harry sighed, trying to hide a small smile as he patted his friend on the shoulder. "Don't give her any more ammo Ron. You know it always ends badly"

The red haired boy glared at him.

"Thanks for the support mate…"

Hermione hiccupped and whipped her tears away. With a rather smug look upon her face she leaned back and playful stuck her tongue out at him as if egging him on to say something stupid. Kakashi shook his head and dropped down onto the couch.

"I really don't know why I put up with children…"

The three wizards looked at each other, the sudden thought of Kakashi as a teenager flashing trough their minds. Harry winced, Ron snickered, and Hermione all but killed herself as she burst out laughing once again

"Were you ever a child?" she asked through the fit of giggles.

The uncovered part of Kakashi's face looked thoughtful for a moment before replied, "Its doubtful"

"So why are you here anyway?"

He looked at them without saying anything. There was an unreadable look in his uncovered eye that was enough to send shivers down their spins. After what felt like forever, he finally replied.

"Because you know"

Hermione gapped in confusion.

"Know what?"

Kakashi looked back at her, almost glaring.

"Stop playing innocent" he snapped, crossing his arms. "Ever since you knocked me out in the Sandaime's office, you three have been avoiding the topic of my little brother. I know that you know because of the way you three have been acting. Always whispering about thing when you're suppose to be training or doing a duty that has been given. I want to know"

Ron's eyes widened. "Is this an interrogation?"

"If you want it to be"

The redhead stood defiantly, crossing his arms as well.

"Hey, it's three against one mate. We've had to use our wizard magic on you once, we can do it again"

"I've survived worse before kid. Now tell me already"

Hermione snorted, she herself standing. "So what? You can go tarring off like a bull in a china shop? We've been given information that was meant to be a secret. Even if it's a secret that shouldn't be kept, we have the honor enough to keep it since we've been asked to do so. The Hokage won't tell you, so we won't either"

"Do you even understand what this is like? To know that the one person who's 'death' has haunted you for years is really alive? I was only fifteen when my sensei and his wife died - it wouldn't be many years after that before my own teammates would follow. They were the only really family I had"

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but we made a promise"

In the next moment it seemed that twelve years of frustration came out all at once as he stood again and loomed over them with his full height. Though they couldn't really see Kakashi furious face as it was near completely covered, they could feel his anger.

"Just tell me! All I want is to know who he is!"

Finally Harry stood and marched past Ron and Hermione so that he could stare directly up into the older man's one eye. The green eyed boy was unable to hold back, bitterness from his own childhood with the Dursleys coming back to him.

"You want to know? Then you're bloody well blind! You already know who he is and you've already met him. You actually know him better then half the people in this damn village! I've watched, I've listened and the things I've seen and heard make me sick. You should have seen through the lies and every bias little thing everyone said and realized what had happened. Tell me, what other child was born that day? How many newborn infants were lined up to be sacrificial lambs?"

Harry was shaking, his breath even painful in his own lungs and it hit him like a slap to the face. He could only stand there and let it hurt. He felt for Naruto, his friend that had only met once in a dream, a friends been tormented worse then he and yet he was jealous. Jealous that while the blonde had someone out there for him that would have readily taken him in had he only know it. He had no one. No brother or sister or any kind of extended family that would miraculously turn up to rescue him from his fate. He did have Ron and Hermione… but that didn't count.

Without waiting for an answer, the raven haired boy turned and stormed out of the apartment filled with heart deep anger. Kakashi stood, shocked by everything he had just heard that was taking its time to sink his head. Everything Harry had said… that could only mean one thing…

Hermione shivered furiously for a second before she too spun soundlessly around and followed her friend out the door. That left Kakashi and Ron as the only ones left in the tiny apartment. Although Ron shared his friend's feelings, he could only remain standing shock still. He knew there was more to Harry's outburst then what was said. His green eyed friend, although he hid it well, was very fragile.

"Bloody hell…" he whispered, staring at the closed door. "You had to go and trigger it didn't you?"

Kakashi looked confused.

"Trigger what?"

Ron sighed. If things were going to change, Kakashi was going to have to know a lot more about the wizarding world.

"You have your stories of horror and heartbreak here in Konoha, well so does the rest of the world. For us in the wizarding world, eleven years ago tonight a tragedy and celebration took place"

"What happened?"

"Once upon time there was a wizard so evil the world lived in fear. He was a viscous monster and no one stood a hope of stopping him. But then when it looked as though he had everything in his grasp, it was all taken away - his reign of terror was abruptly ended. He lost everything because of a baby boy that had a destiny to stop a tyrant. That baby was Harry, just as Kaji, who is Naruto, was. Although they were seen differently in the eyes of their people, they are they same. Harry's parents died this night eleven years trying to keep him alive. He knows what its like all too well. No real family, no hope of a real life. Being the famous 'Boy Who Lived' robbed him of that…

But I know something that he doesn't. He already has a family. We are his family - the only one he's ever had"

The redhead could only sigh again.

"Don't you see it?"

"See what?" Kakashi asked, bewildered.

"He's afraid it going to be taken away. So are you going to help us find him or what?"

And then Ron too left the apartment, not waiting to see if his dumbstruck teacher would follow. The sliver haired jounin blinked dumbly for a minute. Such was a fate no man would ask for twice, but for Kakashi, he had and it was a bitch. But everything made sense. He had a family again - two families - that needed him and with a firm resolve, he followed his three students out the apartment…

…and forgotten stood the séance circle, the salt scattered by foot prints and ghostly smoke that had begun to leek out of the heart of the pentagram…

.-

Dodging past trees and other objects such as rocks, Harry ran through the Forest of Death and didn't look back. He could feel the stray branches he couldn't avoid slapping against his face, causing it to sting painfully. The raven haired boy knew he had lost Hermione back around the Hyuuga clan compound and hoped she would a hard time tracking him. He just wanted to be alone and sulk with his own sorrows in peace.

Hastily climbing a tree, Harry looked out into the distance. Although the inky night covered most in its shadow, the lights of Konoha were just visible. Dropping back down to the earth, he drew in a breath and exhaled deeply. Why in the world did he have to be jealous? Given all the reasons he should be happy, but his own heart wouldn't let him.

"I'm such a failure. I can't even be happy for my own friends"

Muttering to himself, Harry pulled out his wand pointed it a old clump of dried grass.

"Incendio"

The brittle clump burst into flames and the boy replaced the wand into his long coat. With a defeated sigh he plopped down beside it. The heat helped to warm his chilled hands and bring something of a smile to the corners of him mouth.

Harry sat with his little fire until every coal had almost died away when he decided it was time to be going back home. Hermione and Ron would be worried about his if they weren't searching the village and forest top to bottom for him. That helped to ease the ache a little. He would always have those two looking out for him. With a yawn he stretched his arms and removed his glassed to rub his tired eyes.

"So tell me boy, are the rumors true?"

Harry whirled around and replacing his glasses to found no one. But the forest had become as silent as its namesake and everything felt as if it were dead.

"W-who's there?"

The was no reply. Only fog seemed to roll in, growing dense and smothering. The sound of snapping twigs came from his right and before Harry could turn to see who was there, a sharp pain filled his skull, threatening to brake it in two. He grasped at his scar a he collapsed to the ground with a cry of pain. When he finally looked up, whoever it was had vanished once again.

Harry took a deep breath. He felt as if he were stuck in a twisted game of cat and mouse. Voldemort had found him - that could be the only explanation. Dumbledore had told him that he felt pain in his scar because of the connection he had to the Dark Lord.

"You don't look so powerful…"

Turning to the left, he found himself staring up at man who wasn't Voldemort at all.

The man of regal stature stood before him, tall with long flowing hair the color of midnight and pale skin that looked like polished sliver in the scant moonlight that shown through the trees. A pair of golden snake-like eyes looked down on him, and in them he saw the look of a predator.

Scrambling away, Harry did the only thing he could think of and feel into a fighter's stance.

"Oh do not sicken me with your foolishness child" the man laughed and it was hollow, as if he had no soul at all. "You would not be able to harm me even if you tried"

"I don't like to take chances" Harry growled.

"You don't do you? Then why does it seem you are always trying to get yourself killed?" cruel amusement polluted the voice.

Harry was about to say more before he gasped, backing away as another wave of pain filled his head. "How can you effect my scar? Only Voldemort can do that!"

Another laugh.

"What can I say? I like to make bargains when I am the one who is in favor of the situation"

"Bargains? What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing to worry yourself about"

The man's snake eyes willed Harry with dread. They were so much like Voldemort's, so filled with a love for death and the destruction of innocence.

"You never did answer my question boy"

Gulping, the raven haired boy backed up even more. "W-what question?"

"Are the rumors true?"

"What rumors?"

"That you can't die"

Harry didn't like the sound of that.

"I d-don't know…" he sputtered and before he could take his chance to make a run for it, the man laughed again.

"Then let's find out"

The feeling of pain as he struck the closest tree nearly made Harry pass out. The strange snake-like man had been on him so fast that he never got the chance to defend himself. The next attack came just as he had gotten back up and he barely had time to brace himself as he was thrown back again. He heard a few ribs crake this time and coughed up blood. As he forced himself to stand again despite the burning he felt throughout his body, a cocky smile graced Harry's bloody lips.

"Is that all you have?"

That attack had caught him off guard, but never again. Hands flying up into familiar seals, Harry summoned the first thing that came to mind.

"Raikou: Hekireki Jitsuryoku"

Above them in the sky, thunder rumbled dangerous before multiple blasts of lightning rained down upon his attacker. Harry took that ass his moment to run and made a mad dash through the trees. Panting, he searched for familiar trails that would lead out of the forest.

"Did you really think that would work against me?"

The man materialized in front of him with a sinister smile on his face and attacked again. Although he could hear the words that came with it, the hand seals were Snake, Dragon, Snake…

This time Harry was hit with a strange attack that felt like the bones inside his body were shattering. In far too much pain, he was unable to scream. When it for the moment, Harry thought he might be sick. That feeling went away however when his momentary distraction allowed the snake man to hit him again - this time just with the power of a solid kick. Collapsing to the ground, bleeding and broken, the raven haired young wizard could do nothing as the man reached down and picked him up by the collar of his shirt. He dangled in the air like an abused marionette on broken strings that was just waiting for the same torture to come again.

"Time to die"

Finding an ounce of strength left, Harry spat blood in his face.

The blood seemed to stain the stark white face before him. The stranger didn't bother to wipe the blood away though, but looked into the boy's emerald eyes with that same cruel emotionless smile. "Such a pity that I'm to kill you. I sense that a fighter's spirit lives strong in you - no wonder he loathes you so. No… I'd hate to rid myself of such a tool. Alive you can be used…"

In the distance Harry could hear the soft sounds of Hermione's and Ron's shouting voices…

…and the snake man smiled.

"So your friends have come for you have they? I'll let them have they're fun and see if they can save you. But I'll be back boy and if you live, you'd do best to remember that"

Those eyes glinted hungrily and for the first time, Harry could see that the mask was gone. The sheer darkness in them didn't lie… not like before…

'Beware of diamond eyes that lie… that seek the way to make you die…'

Harry choked. "Who are you?"

"You'll find out soon enough"

The man looked off into the trees and hissed words that only Harry could understand.

"Come Manda, we leave"

Seconds later the immense head of a snake of appeared through the trees. Harry's weakening green eyes widened in horror just as he was dropped like an unwanted sack, braking more bones as he struck the ground.

"Be well child. Till we meet again"

And as suddenly as he had appeared, the strange man and his giant snake vanished as the last of Harry's strength gave out and he succumb to the darkness that lured him away from the pain and into the abyss beyond.

.-

Dust flew in all directions as two young wizards, a one shinobi (although farther behind) raced through the trees in the darkened Forest of Death.

"He's this way!" Hermione cried, bursting forward with more speed.

"I can sense his life force" Ron hissed urgently as he followed. "Its fading fast!"

Throughout their entire search for the missing green eyed boy, Kakashi had not said a word. It hadn't been his place to anyway after what had happened. But the very thought of what he had just heard the boy's redhead friend say made him sick. He wouldn't let one of his students die. One already had, even though Ron's death had turned into a wondrous rebirth. He hadn't been there with them when it had happened.

If Harry died…

The two kids ahead of him broke trough the trees and down a short rocky slope before Hermione let out a cry. The sound of a soft sob echoed through the silent forest and when he finally reached them, the bushy haired girl was holding what looked like a human sized rag doll in her arms. Kakashi stopped and looked down at the boy. Harry had been badly beaten, burses and cuts dotted his body.

Ron looked terrified as he drop down next to Hermione and urged her silently to hand their friend over to him. Without hesitation she did as he wanted and the redheaded gently laid his hands down on the raven haired boy's chest. His eyes suddenly became large and glassy black, unseeing as he slipped into a meditative trance, trying to ward off death.

The redhead took a deep breath and whispered"Seireimegan"

As far as Kakashi could see, Harry looked as though he was dead.

But then suddenly Ron let out a cry and tore his hands away from Harry as if burned.

"Bloody hell!"

"What?" Hermione gasped. "Is he alright? What's wrong?"

"Hermione…"

"Tell me!"

Kakashi watched as the red haired boy turned his blackened gaze on his friend and then to him. It was not an expression the silver haired man was able to read. Ron took a deep breath before replying, his deep voice shacking with shock.

"I-I think he's immortal"


	16. Chapter 16 Uneeded Anxiety and a Ghostly

Chapter Sixteen - Of Unneeded Anxiety and a Ghostly Visit

It was early during the morning of November the first that Haruno Sakura could be found pacing Professor Dumbledore's office with enough zest that a path was already burning onto the carpet. Her normally immaculate pink hair was a mess and even her fingernails had been chewed down to the point where the tips had become bloody stumps.

Not far was Uchiha Sasuke was seated in one of the chairs next the headmaster's desk staring off into space, contemplating things that only his mind could understand. Although he kept the calm indifferent look as not to appear as razed as his female companion, he was thinking back on what exactly had caused this mess in the first place other then his other companion's partial transformation.

And climbing the stocked shelves stuffed with all sorts of magical knickknacks to keep his mind off the reason he and his teammates were in Dumbledore's office in the first place was Uzumaki Naruto, continually sneezing due to the large amounts of dust that were currently effecting his poor heightened sense of smell. Unable to keep his mind off those thoughts, he occupied it by allowing his clawed hands to paw at he could get a hold of.

"How many more hours do we have to be stuck in this office?" Sakura whined as she finally stopped her pacing to sit down on the steps that lead up to the headmaster's private quarters. "The anxiety is kill me"

Naruto leaned over and snatched up what looked like a glass spider.

"Live with it. I've lived with it my whole life. Had I dwelled on the thought that someone was going to brake down my door and kill me in my sleep - that's not to say they haven't tried - I'd have ended up as miserable ol' gloomy down there"

Sakura ignored the bashing on Sasuke. "But when do you think they're going to be finished debating wither you're safe or not?"

"I dunno" he replied nonchalantly, tossing the glass object from hand to hand. "Maybe once they give me an anal probe"

"Naruto!"

"What?"

The pink haired girl grimaced before giving the blonde a dirty look.

"Do you have to be so vile?"

A miracle happened when Sasuke began to cough, obviously trying to cover up a laugh of all things. "Am I hearing you correctly Sakura? Did you really just ask Naruto a question like that?" the Uchiha coughed again. "I don't think there's much of a point - the dobe is infected with stupidity"

Naruto glared down at him a moment, wondering if it was worth it before deciding that it was and throwing a small hard glass orb at the dark haired boy's head. It hit Sasuke with a solid thunk on top of the head, the very sound causing the foxy blonde to laugh.

"I always knew your head was made out of wood!"

Sasuke glared back at him and then smirked.

"Hey Sakura, would you have preferred animal testing?"

That didn't seem to go over well with the pink haired girl, who threw up her arms in disgust. Being trapped in the same room as these boy all night was not good for her personal mental health. But Sasuke's question had its effect on Naruto as he leapt nimbly away from the shelves and landed on his feet next to him.

"Do either of you think that I would have liked to become Hagrid's new pet project?" the blonde began to rant. "Neville told me he kept a dragon and a three headed dog as pets last year and from the way he kept looking at me, you'd think he was ready to take me home like little kids do with frogs"

"Maybe he could have given you some obedience training"

"Ha bloody ha"

Irritated, Naruto proceeded to dust his hair off and, out of strange new habit, began to scratch furiously behind his new furry ears.

Sasuke smirked again. "Fleas?"

"Shut up teme! They're here"

And ten seconds after it was said, the office door swung open to admit a very bedraggled Professor Dumbledore. He was accompanied by Tsunade and Shizune soon, the former of the pair looking extremely pissed. The elderly headmaster made his way past them and around the desk to sit in his seat. The two woman remained standing though, motioning for the two unseated genin to take the available chairs. As soon as Naruto and Sakura had joined Sasuke, Dumbledore folded his hands.

Looking to Naruto, he smiled.

"Well I have managed, with the help of these fine ladies, to convince the staff that you are of no harm to them or the students. Although I must say that there were a few that wished to have you tossed out of Hogwarts"

"And those would be?"

Tsunade smiled grimly. "Snape was the most vocal. He got as far as to say you were as safe and trustworthy as a rabid werewolf"

Sasuke inclined an eyebrow with interest.

"What stopped him from saying more?"

That was when Shizune finally spoke, the short dark haired woman crossing her arms and glaring up at her friend.

"He was unable to continue because Tsunade-sama had punched him in the face so hard that he was flung across the room to be knocked out when he struck to the wall at the other end"

The three genin gapped in shock. Naruto was the first to recover and smiled widely.

"You're the best obaa-chan!"

"Don't call me that!" she snarled.

"Well what else can I call you?" the blonde boy sniffed. "You said you kill me if I called you nee-chan"

The blonde woman only growled at him before turning her attention to Sasuke and Sakura.

"Snape also wanted to get rid of the both you as well"

"What?" Sakura gasped, turning pale. "Why Sasuke-kun and I too? We haven't done anything wrong"

After allowing her to say her piece, the dark haired boy next to her rolled his eyes. Turned to face his pink haired teammate, his expression was nothing but serious.

"Think about it Sakura. The three of us came here together so how are they suppose to know that we are the same as the dobe? They could possibly think that we have some kind of connection. It makes perfect sense that they'd be scared of us enough to want us gone"

"Too right you are" Dumbledore nodded solemnly. "It has been agreed that, due to the circumstances of the attack you three faced in the forest, Hogwarts is the safest place for you three to be watched over. We've also convinced the staff the Naruto's changes due to merging is a byproduct off his family history. There are many magical races such as the Veela's, whose hybrid children blend in with humans until they reach a certain age. It shall be no different for you and the secret of the demon will remain secret… at least for now"

Tsunade nodded as well. "We've also confirmed that it was the Dark Lord Voldemort whom attacked you"

Sakura gasped again.

"But I thought he was dead. All the books that I read said - "

"Said what everyone wanted to believe. Voldemort returned during the summer and attacked one of the students just before the last school year was complete. I just received a letter from the Sandaime alerting us another attack at the same time as yours…"

Naruto and Sasuke stiffened. For different reasons the two boys had a bad feeling about what they were about to hear.

"Apparently Orochimaru has allied himself with Voldemort. His attack was by trying to finish off what Voldemort couldn't do eleven years ago yesterday - kill Harry Potter. For reasons unknown he left the boy who is now being treated by any medic-nin that can help. Its left an upheaval - apparently your jounin instructor wishes for you three to return…"

Three sets of eyes widened simultaneously.

"Kakashi-sensei wants us to come back?" Naruto gapped in disbelief, almost laughing at the seer audacity of the last part. "You have got to be kidding. That guy hates us!"

Sakura frowned. "He might be the latest man on the planet, but he doesn't hate us"

"Actually," Sasuke replied, shuddering at the very thought of agreeing with Naruto on anything. "The dobe's right. What exactly were his first words the day he met us?"

"'Based on my impression of you… I hate you'" Naruto piped up, perfectly mimicking Kakashi's voice.

"Things change"

The blonde sighed.

"Change how? He was always too interested in reading those perverted novels his then pay attention to us. And if he did pay attention, it was the teme that got the limelight"

Sasuke glared at him at the same time Tsunade face went a white a bleached flour. "Did you say perverted novels?"

"Yep. He's a fan of ero-sennin's work"

Dumbledore's eyes started to twinkle. "Speaking of Jiraiya…"

The flames in the fireplace suddenly turned green and burst forth to spew forth a mangy man with long white hair turned gray from soot.

"… he's going be here for awhile"

Tsunade's face had suddenly become redder then a tomato.

"WHAT?"

"I'd suggest that you come with me children" Shizune whispered and slowly began to back away.

Knowing their lives were at risk, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura quickly followed Shizune in retreat to front of the office seconds before the blonde haired woman exploded.

"THIS WAS NOT PART OF THE DEAL! HOW DARE YOU BRING THIS PERVERT INTO A SCHOOL THAT JUST HAPPENS TO HOUSE TEENAGE GIRLS! IF YOU DON'T SEND HIM AWAY, I'LL KILL HIM!"

Jiraiya grinned.

"Now, now Tsunade-hime…"

She started to whack upside the head, hard.

"NEVER CALL ME THAT!"

"Itai!" the man cried, flinching away from her king-sized fists. "It's not my fault!

Dumbledore laughed. "Please calm down Tsunade-sama. I had sent Jiraiya a request to come to Hogwarts not long after you told the details of Naruto's impending transformation, and now since these three were attacked, I believe two sennin here at Hogwarts is better. He was suppose to have been here ten days ago, but was unfortunately detained"

The Toad Sennin grinned as he turned to look over Naruto. His eyes widened as they took in the furry ears, blue feline eyes, claws and the fangs that could be seen in sheepish grin.

"Looks like I missed the big show huh brat?"

Naruto snorted with disgust. "If by big show you mean suffering excruciating bouts of pain, feeling all my bones snapping and twisting as they become that of a fox's and then again as they become human, then you didn't miss much. I think the time you pushed me off the cliff was more exciting…"

Sasuke looked at Naruto. "He pushed you off a cliff?"

"Yeah. He said it was the only way for me force the Kyuubi to let me use its chakra. Baka pervert…"

Jiraiya glowered and crossed his arms.

"That was educational!"

"As educational as those books of you're. Thank Kami that all the showers have secret passwords"

.-

It was noon and the sun shown brightly down over Konoha, warming the crisp late autumn and bathing the village in an orange glow. For many it was like Naruto had come home to play a prank on them and paint everything in his favorite eye gouging color. But away from the people, but close enough to be found, Ron Weasley was miserable.

When the medic-nin's that had treated Harry's injuries finally explained the extent of the damage the green eyed boy had endured, they said he must have kept fighting despite all the brakes and sprains. They had to set about ten broken bones in his best body last night (seven ribs, left collarbone, right leg and left ankle). On top of that, one of those ribs was able puncher a lung and he had a concussion. Under the circumstances, it was unlikely Harry would remember what had happened Halloween night when he finally woke up, but for Ron, Hermione and the few people in Konoha who knew the full details of what had happened, were frightened

While they were frighten of the person that had attacked Harry, whom had been confirmed to be Orochimaru, the redhead could only think on what he had seen with his eyes. Silly as it sounded, it wasn't that way for him. Unable to rationalize any other explanation, he went with what he knew was the reason.

It all started with the Spirit Eyes, the key bloodline power that had been one of the old Weasley family legends Ron had loved to read about as a small child. They were the eyes of ebony that could see into person's soul and, if they wanted, see the good or bad intentions their heart was about to execute. They also allowed their wielder to see the amount of chakra or magic someone had and predict a person's lifespan.

But he had also noticed that since his powers had awakened during his time under the influence of another element, they were now restricted to that element. The Spirit Eyes were not fueled by his magic, but by his chakra so they had become the Seireimegan, the shinobi equivalent of a wizard-born bloodline.

It was in analyzing his own powers who much he realized what separated the shinobi from the wizards that wasn't cultural background. Chakra and magic were two different things and not the same as some might think.

Shinobi were born with the access to mold their life-force however they wanted. Their chakra would grow through training and only then could the powerful attacks be preformed. It was a like fluid art, practiced time and time again till everything seemed like a dance. There wasn't really a good and evil, but what the person did with what they had. To corrupt your life-force was to corrupt your chakra.

Wizards were also born with their powers, but couldn't mold it. Magic was separate from the life-force, a spiritual energy that mingled along with it. Harder to control, the essence of a wizard could change physical matter without illusion and exhausted long after one's chakra would, but like everything, it too had its price. There was a good and evil with this power. Those that used the darker side mostly ended up corrupting their souls.

And then there were the Muggles, people born without the access to either. Although the power existed within them, it remained closed off. So for millennia they lived their lives finding ways around the lack of powers that their hidden brethren did. But some people broke the natural barriers due to suffering from great traumas. These gifts were always minor, simply giving the person lightly enhanced foresight, telepathy, telekinesis or other abilities that scared those that did not have them.

So it was simple to see that shinobi and wizards do the same things. Shinobi could access the magic as wizards could the chakra. It was just the fine line that separated everything. What were you then when you abandoned one for the other?

Ron hadn't thought about that when he first jumped at the opportunity to come and learn. What he, nor Harry or Hermione, still couldn't see was that only having learn bare basics of their magic the year before, and that they and now learning how to wield his chakra, they was causing a strange occurrence to take place. Since shinobi learn about their abilities at a much younger age then wizards to theirs, one form was going to become more dominant. This chakra had always been easier to wield then magic meant the through their time here, they were becoming less like a wizard (thought that would always be in their blood) and becoming more like a shinobi.

So with his powers advancing at such a rate, Ron had used them to look into Harry's soul. Looking in, the flame haired youth had noticed that his friend's magic and chakra seemed to be scrambled together. Through his magic, his life-force was undying, never-ending until what had caused the fusion in the first place was fixed. Without a reason, Harry might keep aging until his body fell apart…

"I'm never going to figure this one out" Ron grumbled bitterly to himself, head in hands as he stared out the hospital window.

He had been sitting awake next to Harry's bed all night and half the day. He had seen the medics come and go, Kakashi in and out with updates from the Hokage and now Hermione slept, finally, on a recline chair with her face pressed hard into it that you could see her lips flutter every time she breathed.

"Maybe you don't have to" a eerily calm, but slightly sad voice replied.

Ron whipped around to see who the intruder was and found nobody. But his extra sensitive senses were tingling. Whoever was here was invisible and he called upon his Seireimegan to confirm what he suspected.

What his black eyes saw took his breath away.

A ghost, very much unlike the ones at Hogwarts floated next to Harry's bed, standing right next to him. Ron sat numb, unable to tell wither the spirit was male or female. Since the figure was simply composed of light, a pure soul that was no longer housed inside a living body, he had no way of finding out. Being the soul itself, it was allowed to keep its secrets and the redhead was unable to discover the deceased being's identity.

"W-who are you?"

"I am one from beyond, you would know that much Deathbringer"

Ron's eyes widened.

"How did you that?"

The spirit laughed, a gentle heartwarming sound. "I would have to be very stupid not to know child. Besides, it is because of you that I am here"

"What you mean by that?" Ron hissed, trying to keep his voice down so that he wouldn't wake Hermione. "I did no such thing"

"Must I remind you about the foolish little séance you had planned to have last night?"

"…"

"Exactly. While you didn't call anyone, the channel you had created was free access. You should be thankful I was within the vicinity to keep the vengeful spirits from getting out"

"What vengeful spirits?"

"Well the Uchiha clan for starters" the spirit nodded. "They lust for revenge so great that their spirits are kept from moving on. Since their killer is nowhere near, they would have been blinded by their rage and would harmed the innocent that live here. I know of others as well, but they are of less importance then angry clan of ghosts"

"But the circle of salt - "

"Was broken. Passing through the circle I was given more form then just another one of the many wandering ghosts of Konoha. I am able to speak with you, and daresay effect you if I wished, but I am a good person and I wish to help you instead"

Ron raised an eyebrow. "And why do I get the feeling that helps comes with a price tag?"

The glowing spirit chuckled softly, not reply right away, but rather looking down at the sleeping boy on the bed. Harry continued to sleep, unaware, and he was under so deeply you'd think someone used elephant tranquilizers on him.

"All I want is for you to give me the chance to live again…"

"But - " Ron began to cry before being cut off.

"Yes, yes, yes - I know about the regulations on your dual abilities as a Lifegiver" the spirit criticized. "First the soul must be pure and void of all evil doings; second the soul must have all good intentions - none evil or selfish - for returning; and third, the soul must understand that, should they come back, they will be the age they were meant to be for the years they came back. I wouldn't get be same the age I was when I died. Had I died two hundred years ago, I'd becoming back as dust. The years I'd have to sacrifice would been enough to just get to live again. I'd be nearly forty and that's still young! A good half a century's worth of time to live if you don't count illness. I only ask you to give me back my right to live"

Ron sat back, his head swimming. He was clearly shocked by the ghost's straightforward manner of getting to the point to and the decency to ask of his help rather then demand it. But then that would be a selfish reason…

"You'll have to let me think about it" the red haired boy replied, looking up into what he hoped was the spirit's face. "I've only just started to learn how to use my powers. I'd have to send a letter home to my parents asking for the old books that keep the information about our family's irregular bloodline. To get the books, I'd have to tell them that I'm the first member to gain it in over three hundred years. That would cause me a whole boatload of problems. First my mum would gush about how I've finally done the family proud and most likely my dad would want me to come home so he could see what its like - I wouldn't be able stand that! Second, it would take a tone of chakra. I have to start saving up a reserve right now and you'd be lucky if I had enough five months. If I do go through with it, you'd to wait"

The spirit laughed again and although only Ron could hear it, it was supernaturally loud enough make Hermione stir in her sleep and for Harry's green eyes to blink tiredly open. With a soft groan, he opened his lips and whispered hoarsely. "Ron…? Where am I?"

Ron gapped stupidly as he looked over at his friend and then back up at the glowing spirit. Had he been able to see the figure of light's smile, it would have been the happiest he ever seen.

"I'm dead kid. How much longer a wait is five more months?"


	17. Chapter 17when pride comes before a fall

Chapter Seventeen - When Pride Comes After the Fall

"And they're off! Gryffindor is in possession of the Quaffle and are going for the Slytherin goals. Oh, oh, Chaser Abrams has intercepted from Ball and is now passing to Cullman. The Quaffle has been thrown - miss! Great save from Wood. Well Gryffindor has the Quaffle again. Ball passed to Johnson, Johnson to Spinnet - score! 10 - 0 Gryffindor!"

Excited scrams filled the Quidditch stadium during a cold mid-November morning. Within their respective stands, Gryffindors, Slytherins, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs cheered on the team they wanted to win. Bright red and gold banners flew in the wind as did their more dismal counterparts of green and silver.

The blood was pulsing through the veins of each player, the thrill of the game and the lust to win ever so great. Blurs of green and red flashed through the sky, causing the clouds to looks like candy canes against their stark whiteness.

"And it looks like the snakes are retaliating to the score of the game. Spinnet takes on a Bludger - those dirty b-"

"Jordan!"

"Sorry Professor McGonagall!"

Above them all dark eyes surveyed the game, but always watching for telltale signs of gold the would announce the release of the Golden Snitch. But although it looked like he was enjoying the game just as much as everyone else, Uchiha Sasuke wished he could be somewhere.

It was at times like these that the young Uchiha hated the fact that there was such a thing as blackmail. It had happened not that long ago, the day that he had been drafted onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team without much complaint thanks to an incrementing photograph taken by a pair certain redheads. Since their house team was in need of a new Seeker, Naruto had been more then happy to 'volunteer' Sasuke to fill the position since there was the chance he might get hit in the head with a Bludger.

"Damn dobe…" he muttered to himself, continuing to survey the game with distain.

He would have continued to watch in silence if it hadn't been for the powerful force that sent him and broom spinning through the air. Gasping and slightly air sick, the dark haired boy growled back at the Slytherin Seeker whom had body slammed him.

"Too bad you didn't fall you foreign freak" the Seeker, a third year girl by the name of Lucida Wiggins, sneered.

"I'm a freak?" Sasuke echoed sarcastically. "How very original of you"

Sneering back at her, the dark haired boy could help but relish the though that had just come to mind.

"But at least I have one trick up my sleeve that you don't - Sharingan!"

The girl looked confused for a second before she caught sight of his blood red eyes. The little black comma dots swirled around, causing the girl to let out a yelp and she fell away from him. Retuning his gaze back down to the game, Sasuke allowed his eyes to begin copying the tactics that the players on both teams were performing. And at the right time too, a flash of gold streaked past his vision.

And he dove…

* * *

Seated in the Gryffindor boxes with the rest of their house, Naruto and Sakura watched in awe as the game progressed. It was the first Quidditch match of the season and the first game they had gotten the chance to witness. The pink haired kunochi's eyes lingered on the dark haired youth dressed in scarlet and gold Quidditch robes hovering above the game. Had Sasuke not been the new Seeker for the team, Sakura mostly wouldn't have come.

"So…" she asked interesting while not bothering to look at the blonde she was addressing. "How did you manage to convince Sasuke to join"

Naruto laughed next to her.

"Its called the power of blackmail"

"And what did you have that could convince him to risk his life?"

"Not something I have, but what the twins have" the fox boy sniggered. "They pranked him one night back in September - you should have seen it. When he woke up that morning you'd not imagine how much laughter that issued the sight of the all powerful Uchiha dressed in ducky pajamas with rosy cheeks and curly blonde hair that made him look like the old Muggle film star Shirley Temple. Fred made sure to take a picture after they had finished their masterpiece…"

Sakura winced and snickered at the same time as the image of Sasuke dressed up in ducky pajamas came to mind while Inner Sakura was practically howling with laughter.

"And Kyuubi agrees that it was the best thing those two have ever done" he grinned, freely mentioning the name of the demon fox with no hesitation. Since he shared more of his mind now with the annoying animal, he might as well.

"Why won't fate be good to us?" the fox snarled in his mind. "I really want to see that brat get hit by a Bludger"

'You can't have everything…' Naruto mentally chuckled. 'Besides, I thought seeing him get smacked by obaa-chan yesterday was good enough'

"That was good, no doubt about it, but what can I say? I'm greedy"

'No arguments there'

"Having a good conversation?" Sakura asked dryly, gazing at him with a partial frown.

"It's a hoot!"

The crowds roared, drawing the pair's attention back to the skies. Sasuke was now chasing after a little golden ball with the ugliest girl they had ever saw hot on his broomtails. Suddenly the Uchiha boy flipped and dove down, loosing the girl and continuing on as before, causing the crowds whoop with amazement.

"He's using his Sharingan" Naruto observed, his eyesight see better then a hunting hawk.

Sakura frowned fully now.

"Isn't that cheating?"

"When has that ever stopped Sasuke?"

"You have a point…"

* * *

"And it looks like Uchiha and Wiggins have seen the Snitch! It'll be neck-to-neck if one of them doesn't think of something soon. I think that Wiggins is taking her chance to pass - oh good lord, it looks like Uchiha has preformed a flawless Wrongski Faint! Wiggins has been lead astray and now the chase for the illusive Snitch seems one-sided in the favor of Gryffindor!"

Smirking wildly, Sasuke maneuvered his brooms through the other players as he pursued the little gold ball. He could sense Wiggins trying to catch up to him, but was unable to urge her broom to move any faster.

Soaring against the sounds of the cheering from all spectators, the game continued at a fever pitch. Goals were scored by both sides as the players gave it their all, but it seemed that the audience only had eyes now for the two people in hot pursuit of the Snitch. With utmost confidence in his bloodline powers, the Uchiha heir performed more aerial stunts that he had copied to shake that annoying Slytherin off.

'Call me a freak will you…' Sasuke inwardly growled. 'Slytherin is going down for that one!'

"Blimy Sasuke, stop daydreaming! Catch the Snitch!" Fred Weasley was suddenly screaming at him as he expertly batted away a Bludger that was headed strait for him.

"No more lollygagging!" was George Wesley's input. "We have enough to win. Catch the bloody thing!"

Frowning distastefully, Sasuke executed one last dive, his hand outstretched. The blinding fast little ball was only in his hand for a few seconds, its fluttering dying off, when Wiggins crashed into from the rear, sending the both of the flying head over heals to drop twenty feet.

With his chakra to help him soften then the blow, Sasuke crashed down upon the turf in a cloud of dust with barely a scratch whereas Wiggins appeared to have a broken leg. Her wailing was so sharp that he had to grit his teeth. He raised a hand out of the dust cloud to present the capture of the Snitch. The sound of even more deafening screams reached his ears as Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff voiced their approval as one.

"And with that spectacular catch of the Golden Snitch," Lee Jordan's voice yelled out over the intercom. "Uchiha Sasuke has won the game 260 - 90 for Gryffindor!"

And through the crowds of people already over-spilling onto the pitch were Naruto and Sakura. The pink haired girl had a smile on her face so big everyone could probably count all of her teeth.

"Sasuke-kun, you did it!"

She glomped him in a bone braking hug that he was powerless to escape. For the first time in his life Sasuke found himself looking helplessly up at Naruto, his eyes begging for help. But Naruto being Naruto only shrugged and gave him a 'serves you right you baka' look as he smirked at the dark haired boy's unfortunate predicament.

When the time came, Sasuke swore that he was going to get Naruto back.

"WE DID IT!" Oliver Wood started to yell over the din to his team. "WE HAVE MANAGED TO CONQUER THOSE FOOLISH SNAKES, BUT WE SHOULD NOT LET OUR GUARD DOWN OVER JUST ONE WIN. WE MUST FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT AND NEVER LOOSE THE PASSION TO KEEP ON GOING. I LOVE YOU GUYS!"

The three genin of Konoha winced, fully reminded a ridiculous pair of overzealous green clad shinobi back home.

Naruto shuddered. "Kinda reminds you of Lee and Gai-sensei doesn't he. I've only ever seen those two display such adverse passion for anything"

"Yes…" Sasuke nodded, pretending to stick a finger down his throat. "Its almost sicken"

"WHAT WAS THAT?"

They sweatdropped with exasperation. Apparently he seemed to have just as good hearing too.

* * *

By the time night had fallen and students were venturing off to their late night classes, three kids found themselves nearly falling asleep as they listened to Jiraiya drown on about something that he had been summoned to teach them. It wasn't much different from the other nonsense he had been spouting all week since he had become a privet teacher for just them three.

Apparently Dumbledore thought it a good idea to keep his three shinobi students up to date in the studies they would have had with Kakashi. This class was set up specially for them to learn more jutsu and eventually create their own. It had been interesting enough until the old pervert kept hurting himself and Tsunade had to installed in the class full time just to make sure that he didn't kill himself.

And that was no bottle of sake for the blonde sennin.

"Are you going to ask a question this time?" Sakura hissed at the two they yawned next to her.

Sasuke frowned. "She hit me the last time"

Naruto snickered.

"That's because you got cocky - haven't I ever told you that obaa-chan was evil?"

"Too many times to counts dobe"

The blonde resisted the urge to smack him. "Well maybe you should listen to me next time! I'm not a dumb as you think"

His two teammates snorted sarcastically.

"Yeah right"

Ignoring their comment, Naruto raised his hand. Seeing that he wanted to ask a question rather then shout one out, Tsunade smiled.

"Yes?"

"When are we actually going to get to learn something?"

That must have been going through her head as well because she turned to look at the pervert hermit with a pointed glare. He winced and held up a sheet of parchment that had a list of jutsus written upon it.

"You have your chance for projects at last" Jiraiya grinned. "Each of you will be given a jutsu that either myself or Tsunade-san has learned in the past to study and create a workable one of your own within a mouth"

Filled with intrigue, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura wandered over to get a good look at the list. It was a long list, vaguely detailing the various genjutsus and ninjutsus that appeared to be well over jounin standard.

"Hey!" Naruto grinned. "I want to learn that one!"

All eyes followed the blonde's pointing finger to one name that stood out boldly on the parchment. Jiraiya burst out laughing.

"We are not learning these techniques brat"

"But how exactly to do study a jutsu perfectly without learning it?"

Apparently that seemed to work since the Toad Sennin was speechless. Recovering quickly, he grinned back at Naruto "That is a very powerful technique. The Rasengan was created by my student Minato, the Yondaime. It took him three years to master his own move and took me about just the same amount of time when he taught it me. I seriously doubt that you could even learn the concept of it in a month"

The blonde pouted.

"Well its my dream to be Hokage one day ero-sennin. I bet I could learn it in a day!"

That was when Tsunade started to laugh.

"Yeah right brat. If you could learn it in a day, I'd give you this" she mockingly held out a necklace with a simple green stone attached to it. "This is the legacy of the Hokage. It belonged to my grandfather, who was the Nidaime, and has been past down to me. Its also cursed. I've given this necklace two people and within a week of receiving it, they both died. I'll give it to you and acknowledge you as future Hokage if you can master the Rasengan in one week. Do that, and its yours"

Cat-like eyes glittered with something reminiscent to a child receiving a pony for Christmas.

"You're on!"

Caught off guard, the blonde woman paled. She really hadn't expected the kid to take her bet. Jiraiya, as well as Sasuke and Sakura were looking at her like she was crazy. They knew what Naruto was like. If he wanted something bad enough, he'd do whatever it took to get it.


	18. Chapter 18 Many Conversations

Chapter Eighteen - Many Conversations

Amber eyes stared up at the amazing collection of stars that blanket the night sky. They searched in hopes of finding a magical shooting star, but none came - and such was the pain that it brought to her heart. Now the owner of the eyes was a slender young woman with a mop of tawny hair, strait unbowed shoulders and a heavily pregnant stomach that held within it a life that filled her with joy. But behind her lovely image was a frightened child, one that was haunted by memories of that past - ones of a youth that still burned with pain.

At twenty four, she could vividly remember the events that had forced her twelve year old self to flee her home village of Takigakure. Escaping had being the easy part of the ordeal, but the surviving had been hard. Without the support of her clan she had nothing and it had been her clan the drove her away. More so, it had been the death of one very precious person.

"Kushina-koi, what you doing out here so late?"

The young woman whirled around to find herself now staring into the concerned blue eyes of her husband, the spiky haired blonde who become her rock in her times of need. His concern for her eased the tension she felt a little, giving her the courage in which to speak.

"I am frightened" she replied, a faint note of fear in her voice.

He looked shocked, golden eyebrows rising so far up that they were hidden under the fringe of his shaggy hair. Trying to brighten her mood, he smirked playfully.

"I was under the impression that nothing frightened you"

"Only only thing Minato-koi, one thing - my clan."

There was an uneasy silence between the pair. The current Hokage could only nod his head knowing, understanding perfectly what she meant. The secrets of his wife's past were no mystery to him and he could nothing but try and bring her some comfort. Sitting down next to her, Minato took her hand in his.

"Then tell me kiobito. Why do they bother you now after so long? I thought you told me that they almost all died off" he whispered.

Fighting back tears, Kushinai sighed.

"That is true yes - my clan is dying out, but it is my otou-san that I am truly afraid of. I know what he would do if he learned that I have survived all these years and to also discover that I am with child. I know what kind of a 'man' he is and since the death of Maki-niisan, I know for sure that he would try to take our son…"

"Son?"

Minato looked like a fish out water, his mouth opening and closing without any words coming out. Kushina couldn't help but bite her lip and blush a bit.

"Yes," she nodded slowly. "We are having son. I found out from a poor young medic who let it slip. But it just so happens to make the situation worse. There are some things I haven't been so truthful to you about and I should start with the clan's 'bloodline'. Its not something that one really has, but it's a ritual preformed by the father to the son. During his fifteenth year, the son will be endowed by his father with the 'powers' of the clan. Since Maki-niisan was my father's only son and clan heir, he was suppose to be next. But everyone knew it was a curse and he wanted nothing to do with those powers. So by dying just days before turning fifteen, he escaped the fate he didn't want. That broke the line, as everything had always been father to son. The loss of his only son devastated my father and the beast within him. How was the beast to pass on the curse when all he had left was a daughter?"

"What do you mean by beast within?" Minato asked, his befuddled look rather comical. "You speak in a ramble. Why do you speak as if the man was two people? Is he?"

Kushina took a deep breath, her slender fingers twinning into her hair.

"Oh… he is koi - that's what I am trying to tell you. But I'll get around to soon. You see, due to injuries in battle, otou-san could not father anymore children. So in order to get the son he needed, he would look to his daughter. As the new 'heir', my duty would be to have a child, or more until I had a son, regardless of my age…"

She looked up at her husband and found that Minato looked absolutely appalled. The very thought of being forced to have children at twelve years of age - she had only become genin the year before - was simply to vile to think of. The look in his electric blue eyes was enough to tell her that he would always protect her.

"You've never told me this before" Minato replied, his brow wrinkling so that his blonde hair drooped down into his face. "What are these 'powers' that apparently make two people?"

"You know about the bloodline of the Aburame right?"

"The bug clan? Sure, they have those creepy beetles that attack the chakra system"

"Exactly. In their clan, they have given their bodies to chakra beetles. Whenever a new child is born, they become host for a colony. In return for their homes, the beetles will aid their host in battle. For them, it's a symbolic relationship. But for my clan, its different.

Hundreds of years ago, the first of my clan made the mistake of angering the spiritual deities. Bad enough as it were that they demanded a price of him if they let the rest of his village live. The price was that he was to sacrifice his body and that of his seven brothers to become hosts for the creatures. Being deities, they would have full control over the body they were given. So that was how it began - eight men of the same blood become puppets for gods. The clan hopped it would ended with their deaths; after all they had fulfilled their part, but it didn't. Every son after that was born with the capacity to carry a spiritual being as it was all a matter of the bargain that was made. Deities always win.

So at the peak of puberty, a son would be called before his father where the ritual that would allow a deity to fill his consciousness would take place. But male children were starting to become rare and the clan was dwindling away. In only a half a dozen survivors, only two males remained. Otou-san is possessed by a dragon demi-god called Ryuusaku, a terrible tyrant. Maki on the other hand was suppose to be host for a eagle, the majestic bird that was the embodiment of his soul"

When she looked up again, Minato seemed to be taking it better then she imagined or it just appeared that way, hidden behind the mask of Hokage.

Slowly, as if to keep his own emotions in, he asked "Does that mean a son can only be possessed by one creature?"

"Any of one race. Had my brother have lived, he could have been host to eagle that was either an elemental, spirit, god or demon. Normally the two latter never bother with such a trivial thing - too bothersome to wield a human - but there has been a few cases, such as my father, in the clan's history. I know that my father, the human, is a good man… but the dragon god is not. All the time that I knew him, he was more the beast then the man…"

Unable to hold back the hurt, Kushina began to cry. Unable to sit back and watch his wife suffer, Minato got swiftly to his feet and took her in his arms. The couple stood together under the night sky, the fate of their unborn child still undecided.

"Please help me. The dragon can never know of our child. I fear my sisters have suffered in my place, but as the eldest, he would want Kaji to become a host anyway"

"Of course I will help you kiobito - I made that promise the first time I laid eyes on you"

"Really?" she smiled softly.

"I married you didn't I?" he smirked back, his voice taking on a teasing tone. "I was the luckiest of lucky. All those fanboys you had that followed you around after Sandaime-sama and the Elders granted you citizenship - I never thought I'd be able to contend. But I won the beautiful Bakufu Kushina - me, the student of Konoha's pervert sennin!"

"Oh stop it you goof…"

Dissolving into giggles made her heart feel lighter. Being more serious, Minato leaned down and kissed her softly on the cheek.

"I will do everything in my power to keep you and our child safe - anything. Even if it means my own life…"

Kushina stood on her tiptoes and kissed him back. "Aishiteru my love. Thank you…"

"Anything for you" he smiled. "But just to be safe, do you know what sort of creature Kaji could contain? You're always bragging about 'Mother's Intuition'"

Together they looked down at her stomach and watched as it rippled lightly from a gentle kick. The young mother shivered slightly, fearing for lives of her family that seemed to have a shadow looming over them and with great certainty, spoke.

"A fox…"

* * *

"… remember…"

Harry woke up with a soft groan, his entire body feeling like hell. For then last half a month his dreams were filled with fog because of the memories he had lost. Little snippets teased him, the broken pieces to a shattered puzzle would stay only long enough to confuse him all the more. It had been half a mouth and still no light could be shed for him. Even though he had been told that he had faced Voldemort's shinobi equivalent, the evil one third of the Legendary Sennin named Orochimaru and survived, none of it made any sense.

It would have meant something to him if only he could remember…

"Will you shut up?"

The raven haired boy was shocked out of his revere by the sound of Ron's voice, that rich baritone induced by his bloodline. Rolling over, he peer across the room where his friend's bed sat. Without his glasses, he could see the blurry outline of the redhead in question was staring up at the ceiling having another heated argument with nothing.

"Very funny. If I hadn't have made that stupid deal with you, I have you exercised!"

Harry could barely contain a snicker. And people thought he was crazy.

Ron's penchant for talking to himself at any time for no apparent reason had been going on since the day he had woken up in the hospital with more broken bones had had ever accomplished with Dudley. Most of the times he would start yelling, giving everyone the broken running commentary and not even giving a damn when everyone looked at him as if he were crazy.

At this very moment Ron was stabbing a finger in the air menacingly at his visible friend. "That doesn't change a thing. I am not a kid, I'm a teenage boy - its my prerogative to have dirty thoughts"

By that time Harry had to keep his face firmly in his pillow, his teeth biting the fabric to keep from bursting a gut.

"What? How dare you compare me to the degenerates of this village. I'll have you know I have never peeked on a naked woman that wasn't confined to my own imagination"

Unable to hold back anymore, one bespectacled green eyed boy let the damn burst and rolled off his bed in a fit of laughter. He hit the floor with a painful thump that jarred his still mending bones, but ignored it all for the sake of the moment. The commotion caused Ron to bolt out of bed, his wide back eyes filled with horrified embarrassment.

"My best… friend… is… a… closet pervert! Damn… that means… I lose the… bet with… Hermione!" Harry gasped though his laughter.

The red haired boy's face still flamed with embarrassment. If glares were bullets then Harry would be six feet under. Ron shuddered with rage as he looked down at his gasping best friend before glaring back at the person who wasn't there.

"Now look what you've done!" Ron growled. "Damn I hate you. I really don't need my best friends thinking that I'm crazy because of a tagalong spirit they can't see that just so happens to have a bad sense of humor"

Harry grinned.

"If you don't want people to think you're crazy, stop talking to yourself"

"Shut up Harry!"

Enough racket had been caused by then to wake up Hermione in the next room. The sound of thundering feet was the only warning before their door whipped open to reveal a frazzled girl with a murderous look on her face.

Seconds later she snapped.

"No, how about you both shut up?" she shrieked. "Its two am in the morning and we have training with Kakashi at five! I want to be well rested, so if you don't mind - keep your lips zipped or die!"

Hermione departed a fast as she came, the retreating storm passing as she slammed the door shut with a bang that rattled the windows, thundering back down the hall and doing the same to her own.

The two boys remained silent for about ten minutes, time in which to make sure that their bushy haired devil of teammate had fallen back asleep. Harry winced slightly as he stood, pain still fresh from his healing injuries. Turing to Ron, he had only a look of pity. Ron glared at him again.

"So, what does your invisible friend have to say?" Harry sighed as he returned to his bed.

Ron groaned and shock his head, speaking for himself.

"That girl is a menace"

He suddenly turned around to look at the person that was suppose to be there, eyes the size of dinner plates. "What? You knew other girls like her when you were alive? God, is nothing sacred?"

Harry was about ready to truly believe that Ron was crazy was a blast of tingling energy wash through him. Speechless, it was dazzling, like pure undiluted joy being injected by a hospital syringe. Gapping in shocked wonder, the raven haired boy's mouth dropped open.

"Did it just laugh?"

"So you felt it did you?" Ron suddenly smiled in triumph, chuckling at Harry's shock. "This prat's laughter seems to have that effect on those who have sensitivity to spirits" sighing, the redhead flopped back into his own bed, eyes discharging. "Now if you don't mind, I am going to get some sleep!"

Harry shivered again as another wave of tingling laughter washed through him. Tossing to his other side to face the wall, the Boy Who Lived couldn't help but wonder who exactly Ron's spirit companion was.

But as he fell back asleep, he was unaware to the sound of the soft pop followed by the smell of smoke as something vanished from the room…

* * *

- Otogakure no Sato -

A few minutes later a young cobra with radiant red and golden scales that shown like the sun reappeared directly onto her master's lap, happily baring her fangs. Her job had paid off, albeit the strange scene she had just witnessed within the boy's room. Her raven haired objective could sense the nameless spirit that hovered around his flame haired friend, so it seemed that maybe things had made good progress.

"What information do you have for me Mashita" Orochimaru hissed, gently stroking her scales.

Looking up into the Serpent Lord's golden eyes, she then slithered up his arm to rest her down upon his shoulder.

"Yes Master. I've been watching the boy closely as you've asked. I'm pleased to tell that he didn't do as you said and remembers nothing of that night"

"Is that all?"

"No," she shook her head. "I'm becoming more suspicious as the time passes. I believe the child may possess something that could aid you in the destruction of your most hated of blood"

Orochimaru nodded slowly. "But I can still cannot see why you are so venomous to Voldemort. He also wields the power of the serpent's tongue and has just as much ties to the blood as I"

Mashita let out a menacing hiss, her tongue darting out to taste the air.

"That pretender it a mockery to your clan master. While you have the blessing of Lord Manda, all he has is Basilisk"

The last word was spat out distastefully, the young cobra tightening her hold on her master's arm as anger unique to that of snakes washed through her.

"Come now Mashita" Orochimaru laughed, patting her head lightly. "You know the power which the Basilisks posses. Save you not would they to look into their eyes you my precious would die"

The cobra hissed angrily. "Still. They are as brainless as the toads that hatched them. Lord Manda lost his first pure child that day when a vile offspring of Gamabunta laid its warty skin down upon his egg. To have said that it was only trying to help when the poor egg was separated from the clutch… it was better to have died then be tainted. Basilisk belongs to the Toads and will never truly be a Snake!"

"And what of Nagini? How do feel of your egg-sister's loyalty to Voldemort?"

"A traitor she is" Mashita answered.

Orochimaru nodded and slowly he removed her from his arm, a sickly smile coming to his face as a sinister plan came to mind.

"Then I have a new mission for you. Return to Konoha and befriend the boy that I have sent you to watch. Every child likes a secret pet and the closer you are to him, the better you'll be able to work some influence over him"

"Yes Master. I shall befriend Harry Potter for you"

Mashita vanished in a puff of smoke. Smiling, Orochimaru bit his thumb and summoned up another snake. This one was a male boa constrictor with a beautiful diamond scales of pure silver.

"How does the spying go Makai?" he asked this new summon.

"Same as always. The Uchiha and the Kyuubi have no idea that I have been watching them. They have caused the children of your ancestor's house to become weak since the banishment of the gray eyed boy. They are also learning more powerful jutsus along with their magical studies. I also have word that Jiraiya, the Toad Master is also there…" it replied.

The Snake Sennin couldn't help but curse. Finding out that Tsunade was there was one thing, but now Jiraiya? Sometimes things weren't fair.

"Well Makai, I need you to do something for me"

"Anything Master"

"Good. I need you to continue to keep an eye the Uchiha boy and the Kyuubi boy. I have just sent Mashita back to Konoha for the wizard boy. Those three boys have no idea who much a pawn they are. But be wary - do not let them or that stupid Jiraiya on to your presence there. Bring me back any new information that might aid us. I want to win this war…"

Makai nodded sagely before vanishing too. "Very well"

Alone once again, Orochimaru smiled.

"A few kinks, but otherwise everything is going according to plan"


	19. Chapter 19 A Heritage of Revelations

Chapter Nineteen - A Heritage of Revelations

Naruto lay in bed, looking up at the canopy that was shrouded in darkness. The sounds of his snoring schoolmates could be heard nearby and the soft crackle of the fire down in the commons room below. His mind was still abuzz from the previous day, thoughts of his progress with the Rasengan causing hell. He had done will on the first few stages during the week, but even as the last day of the best neared, he still hadn't managed to master the step.

Unable to sleep even if his life depended on it, the antsy fox boy aside his thoughts - he was in need of some mischief making.

So with a mischievous grin and focused on that dark little corner of his mind, Naruto took a deep 'breath' and let out one of his ever annoying shouts. 'Yo Kyuubi, wake your furry ass up!'

A grumbling rumble resonated within his mind as the demon fox was jolted awake thanks to the super loud, annoying mental voice of its host.

"What do you want brat?"

'Did I ruin your beauty sleep?' Naruto chuckled. 'I am so not sorry'

The fox growled tiredly. "Save it for the indigestion you'll suffer after tomorrow's breakfast"

'How thoughtful of you'

Naruto's words purposely dripped with sarcasm.

Slipping free from the covers and setting a snoozing Gama aside, stuffing his wand and the Marauder's Map into his pajamas, Naruto tiptoed passed the bed in which Sasuke slept and out into the hall. Mounting the stares, the blonde traveled up to dormitory that housed the fourth years boys and a pair of red haired twins. Get Fred and George's expert aid was defiantly at the top of his list.

So with his excellent night vision and fox instincts, he entered the room without a sound.

"So what's on you insidious little mind tonight?"

'Oh I don't know. A prank or two'

He could almost hear the sound of the demon contemplating those words.

"Victims?" the Kyuubi replied a minute later, chuckling evilly.

'Have any good ideas?'

"How about you start with those good-for-nothing twins? I'd like to see the look on their faces when they realize the jokes on them"

That's when the evil little smile came to Naruto's face as it broke out in a toothy grin. 'I like the sound of that'

They found Fred and George, fast asleep for a first, both slightly drooling and muttering in their sleep about pranks they planned to execute the following day. Putting a hand over his mouth to muffle a snicker, Naruto reached into his pajamas and pulled out his wand. Casting the silencing charm over the two boys, he summoned up two large pails of water.

"Wingardium Leviosa" Naruto whispered and gave his wand a swish and a flick.

He watched with an almost sinister grin as the two buckets rose into the air and floated to hovers them above their beds. Once he was certain that everything was in working order, he made the buckets disappear but their contents still remained to spill down upon the two unsuspecting victims.

"It might not be blood and mayhem, but it works for me"

Had the silencing charm not worked, the whole school would have heard the girly shrieks issued from the Weasley twins as the ice cold water touched their skin. Sopping wet and frozen to the bone, Fred was the first to scramble out of bed, followed closely by George in bed next to him. Wide eyed and unable to speak a word, the pair glared daggers at their foxy friend who waved merrily back at them.

"Do you promise not to kill me if I give you your voices back?"

The pair looked at each other, resignation in their eyes. Fred turned back to him and nodded vigorously (albeit the fierce 'I am so going to kill you' glare), waving his arms about in an effort to dry his soaking pajamas.

"How can I be sure your not lying?" Naruto asked, a smirk on his lips. "Pranksters don't like being pranked - I know from personal experience"

George shook a fist at him (what he hoped was menacing), but it only caused both fox and boy to laugh.

"You look like a drowned rat. Finite Incantium"

The first thing the twins did when they got their voices back was not to speak, but rather to throw themselves at the fox boy. Being shinobi and well trained in avoiding such clumsy attacks, Naruto simply stepped to the side and let the redheaded pair fall unceremoniously to the floor with a thump.

"So, who wants to play some pranks?"

Those words seemed to be enough to make peace with Fred and George, because their faces spilt into identical evil grins that would have made the faint of heart keel over with fear. So after casting a much needed drying charm on their cloths, the trio exited the dormitory and padded silently down into the commons.

As they reached the portrait hole that would allow them to leave Gryffindor Tower, a voice, half choked by sleep and irritation, stopped them in their tracks.

"Dobe? What do you think you're doing? Its midnight"

At the top of the stares Sasuke stared down at them, his hair a mess and his eyes droopy. With a slight snicker at the sight, it only took Naruto a second to debate the matter over in his mind with Kyuubi before giving the dark haired boy a foxy grin.

"What does it look like teme?" the blonde replied cheerily. "Stop being such a prude and join us in some in destruction!"

It would have been nice to see what Sasuke's answer was, but having friends like the Weasley twins made such an answer pointless. In a flash the pair was up the stares and dragging the struggling boy down with them - apparently they figured giving the broody boy a lesson in misbehaving was apart of their life mission.

Sasuke managed only a sleepy glare before being forced by three pairs of hands out the portrait hole.

So with stealth the four boys; one leading and two herding last one along, made their way along the silent corridors. Needing the map's expert aid, Naruto withdrew the piece of parchment and spoke the words that brought it to life.

"What in the name of - " Sasuke began, but was rudely cut off by a hand being clamped over his mouth. It took him a moment to fight George off and look back down at the map, eyes wide.

"Amazing!"

"Damn strait!" the twins laughed. "It was our good luck charm. See, there are our names"

Fred pointed to the four little dots that stood next to the a statue of an old wizard. Sure enough, there they were.

Fredrick Weasley

George Weasley

Uchiha Sasuke

"Wait a minute. Naruto, where's your name?"

"Hunh?"

The blonde looked down at the parchment and was shocked to see that his name was not along with his dot.

"That's odd" George whispered. "This map shows everything"

"Maybe you have a real strong concealment charm on you" Fred suggested.

Both Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other, knowing that suggestion was out of the question. Since they were shinobi, how would wizard magic be on him? Then again, how were the twins suppose to know that? But it could be a chakra concealment…

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Someone wanted to keep your identity a secret"

It made perfect sense. Since Naruto was the vassal of the ninetailed fox demon, or had been until the merger, so that would mean he would need to be protected…

"But shouldn't a false identity show?"

"Maybe not"

Lifting his arms up in front of him, Sasuke's hands preformed a seal before slamming one hand into Naruto's chest. "Kai!" A slight flash of light filled the corridor before vanishing, leaving the blonde to rub at the spot that he knew was going to bruise.

"Itai!" he winced. "Not so hard you bastard!"

"Don't be a baby. Look"

The four, Fred and George still gapping over the strange 'magic' they had just witnessed, looked back down at the map. A new name had joined the other three, but it was not the name that it should have been…

Namikaze Kaji

"What the hell?"

Naruto gazed in shock down at the name that should have read differently. He looked over at Sasuke who looked just as puzzled.

"Where have I heard that name before?" the Uchiha muttered. "I swear I've heard the name Namikaze before…"

"It doesn't matter" Fred insisted, pushed the map in Naruto's hands closed. "We have to get moving or else get caught by Filch and Mrs. Norris. I don't feel like spending a month's detention cleaning bedpans, do you?"

No one disagreed with him and for the time being, Naruto put the name out of his mind. Lead now by the twins, the four boys made their way down the numerous moving staircases and down into the lower reigns of the castle. That was when George started to grumble about being hungry that the mission of pranks sidetracked by a mission of food gathering.

So it turned out as the made their way towards the kitchens, that the best prank in Hogwarts history was about to be formed.

"So what are we going to?" Fred finally asked as they entered the corridor that led to the kitchens.

"Yeah" George added, casting a look at Naruto. "You do have an idea don't you"

"Well…" the foxy blonde began.

"We could always persuade the house elves to put laxatives into our sensei's morning breakfasts"

All eyes turned sharply to look at Sasuke, who just shrugged nonchalantly. It was a moment of shocked silence that the other three boys couldn't help but gap at their dark haired companion, amazed that he would suggest such a thing. The first to recover, Naruto grinned a grin that stretched across his whole face.

"You remember!" he gushed, face alight.

"Remember what?" the twins frowned.

Naruto grinned to them.

"Sasuke here remembers the best prank I ever pulled back home. In that incident, I took on our village's whole council. I added tasteless laxatives to all their drinks as well as to pull superglue down on ever seat in the room. Lets just say the results weren't pretty…"

The dark haired boy grimaced. "It was grotesque"

"Then I'm surprised you remembered"

"I'll have you know that my… father… was apart of that council" Sasuke replied thinly. "We were only six at the time! I can still vividly remember the aftermath of that prank…"

Naruto had to choke to keep from laughing hard enough to wake the whole school. It wasn't long before the twins were doing the same. When they regained their composure, Fred smirked.

"Then lets get down to business!"

* * *

Later that day, Naruto and Sasuke sat in class with Sakura, going over their the new jutsus that they were learning and creating. That morning had been extremely eventful. The pair had watched with bated breath as all the staff members, Shizune and shinobi sennin included, sat down and began to eat the breakfast that had appeared in front of them. By the time first classes began, the lavatories were overflowing to bursting capacity.

It had taken the four boys responsible everything they had not to die of laughter. It had been a great bonding experience, as it seemed that Sasuke had loosened up thanks to being the instigator of their naughty prank. Since the twins were such master pranksters, they had made sure the laxatives had been laced with a spell that would negate any other spells or potions that were being used to overcome it.

But thankfully in one case, the fact that Tsunade and Shizune were healers was what saved their lives. The blonde sennin had been able to overcome the trauma on her bowel reign much faster then the rest of the staff, but sat back with a smirk as she watched Jiraiya running back and forth to the washroom, not bothering to help her annoying former teammate whatsoever.

"So," Sakura began. "What's the name of the jutsu your creating Sasuke?"

The dark haired boy frowned, but answered anyway with a smirk.

"Nenshou Hisaki no Zetsumei"

Sakura blanched. "Burning Flames of Death?"

"Got a problem with that?"

"N-no"

"Well then, how about you tell us about yours"

"Kaze no Kisoku" she replied. "Wind's Breath"

Naruto couldn't help but laugh. "Suits you. A jutsu to match that powerful set of lungs you got"

That comment gained him a glare and nearly caused Sasuke to drop his mask of indifference.

"What about you?" the pink haired kunochi snapped. "You've been too busy trying to get the Rasengan mastered that you've had no time to create one, right?"

The blonde grinned foxily at her.

"I'll have you know Sakura-chan, that I've just started to formulate the best of the best"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yep. It'll be the Kitsune Kaji - Fox Fire"

Sasuke gave him a sharp look. "You called it that because of name right?"

Sakura looked between her tow teammates questionably, utterly confused. Their strange behavior only caused her to become all the more confused when Naruto nodded.

"Do you think we should ask ero-sennin about it?"

"That might be wise ask to. Have you any idea where he is?"

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO TALKING ABOUT?" Sakura screamed, all her hopes of understanding the pair shot.

The two boys looked at her, rolled their eyes and shock their heads sadly. Leaving the exhausted kunochi behind, the pair got up and left the room in search of their perverted sensei. It was only a matter of time before their travels took them up a few floors and they found him, parked in the Hospital Wing being attended to by frustrated Shizune.

The white haired man was munching greedily on a piece of dry bread, hoping that it would bung him up sometime soon. At this moment he looked rather green and pasty, appearing as though he had lived much better days. It was only a matter of time before he spotted them and waved for them to come into the infirmary.

"What brings you here brats?" he asked grimly.

Sasuke glared indignantly at being called a brat, but Naruto took it with experienced stride.

"We have a question to ask you"

"Me? Couldn't Tsunade-hime have sufficed?"

"No"

The older man groaned before crossing his arms. "So, what is it?"

Sasuke ended up being the one to ask the question.

"Have you ever heard the name Namikaze Kaji before?"

Whatever they had been expecting from the Toad Sennin, it wasn't what they got. Both he and Shizune froze, went deathly quite, looking at the two boys with expressions that were a mix of shock, sadness, something akin to outrage.

"Where did you hear that name?" Jiraiya hissed, his face a mired of emotions.

"You have, haven't you?" Naruto insisted, his hope rising as he remained oblivious the older man's discomfort. He might find out who he was afterall. "Who is he?"

The pervert grimaced slightly, but was unable to leave the questions unanswered. "Yes, I have and you mean who was he"

"Hunh?"

The two boys hadn't been expecting that either. It ended up being Shizune who continued.

"Namikaze Kaji was only minutes old when he died. On the day that the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked Konoha, his mother was pregnant. The attack on the village caused unneeded stress on the poor woman and she went into labor three weeks early. Shortly after the birth of her son, Kushina-sama began to hemorrhage. She died because there were not enough medic-nins available and poor little Kaji, being premature, died shortly after. I was just a little girl at the time Kushina-sama died - she was a very nice person and so excited about her baby-to-be. Her death was one of the reasons I wanted to be a medic..."

During dark haired lady's speech, it took Naruto everything he had in him to keep calm. Sensing the blonde's closeness to snapping, Sasuke asked the last inevitable question"

"And who was his father?"

Jiraiya laughed a sad and bitter laugh. "His father? I'm surprise the Namikaze name didn't tell you right away. His father was Namikaze Minato, Yondaime"

All air seemed to be sucked out of Naruto's lungs in an instant. He dropped to the floor gasping and wheezing, Sasuke shacking him to find out what was wrong, almost as shocked by the revelation as he.

"Naruto? Naruto, what's wrong?"

But now was not the time. The blonde flung his teammate violently away, feline eyes filled with horror as bolted out of the Hospital Wing as fast as his legs could carry him. Sasuke gave chase, ignoring the sounds of Jiraiya and Shizune's confused shouting voices and following Naruto though the maze that was Hogwarts up to the Astronomy Tower, the highest point of the entire castle.

When the Uchiha youth finally arrived, he found his teammate was sitting with his back against the stone walls, one fist clenching and unclenching as he cried. In the other he held a perfect loudly swirling blue ball of chakra, its existence almost mocking.

A perfect Rasengan.

"Calm down"

Naruto's eyes suddenly snapped up to stare up at him, those electric blue orbs looking like chipped ice.

"Calm down? Calm down?" Naruto yelled. "Why the hell should I calm down? I've just found out that I've been lied to my whole life. All those times I spoke with the Sandaime, asking - no pleading - to know who my parents were. But what did he say? He told me that I my parent were unknown - that I was practically abandoned! But now I know now. My father was the bloody Yondaime, the very person who cursed me with the Kyuubi! And all I can think about is those times the villagers tried to kill me, all those times I was nothing but a disgusting abomination to them, I was his son. My father sacrificed himself - he sacrificed me - to save everyone and this is the thanks we get? I - I…"

Unable to continue, the blonde dissolved into sobs. As tears flowed untamed down his cheeks, Naruto flung the whirling Rasengan away from him, burning a hole through the ancient stones of the castle wall. As if to answer his sorrows, a downpour of rain burst free from the clouds above their heads, drenching the two boys.

And Sasuke stood back in shock, his mind slowly processing everything he had just taken in. He had only ever witnessed Naruto breakdown like this a few times. It made him feel uncomfortably guilty remembering all those times he had treated the blonde like a fool, telling him that he could never understand how it felt to be him - but Naruto did know all too well.

Standing there now, looking down at his sobbing teammate, the normally stoic boy was overcome by a strange emotion. Compassion wasn't something he felt very often, almost never, as he would rather stay withdrawn and dwell on the thoughts that would help him get revenge for his clan.

Suddenly, it all felt extremely useless.

It struck him then, that while he could always see to Itachi's death some day, he couldn't let his brother rule his life. Naruto, although hated by everyone in Konoha, had strived for the opposite. He tried his hardest to have happiness where there was none and turned blindly away from hatred that corrupted souls of all those that dwelled in its shadow.

His hand found its way to his shoulder and found himself covering the curse seal that he had received from Orochimaru during the first Chuunin Exams. It had been the Snake Sennin's way of making him want to seek out the power that would inadvertently crush his hopes of being free from that hatred. As much as he hated it, he would only end up beeing a tool…

And doing the only thing he could think of, Sasuke sat down next to Naruto and looked up at the sky, watching the heavens cry for everyone that were lost in their own shadows and drowning in the very sorrow that could change their lives.


	20. Chapter 20 Summoning Contracts

Chapter Twenty - Summoning Contracts  
Harry yawned. When he finally opened his eyes, he gasped when he say another pair staring into his own. Bolting upright, he stared down at a small cobra that curled up on his pillow.  
"Did I frighten you young master?" the snake hissed.  
The green eyed boy gapped. Did that snake just talk to him? He thought for a minute he was going crazy before he remember about the snake he spoke with on Dudley's birthday last year.  
"N-no, I'm fine…"  
The snake gave a laughing hiss. "You don't seem fine"  
"I am" Harry insisted quietly as not to wake Ron, having no idea that he was hissing back and not speaking. "What are you doing here?"  
"I was escaping a great Eagle. Using my powers, I fazed between realities. When I landed, it was here. I was frightened and would have left, but I sensed that you were one of us - one that understood the serpent tongue. You are master now young one"  
"But I don't want to be your master"  
"Will you be my friend then?" it hissed eagerly, dark diamond eyes that would have shed tears if they could. "My entire nest has become food to the birds - I have nowhere left to go"  
The raven haired boy winced. He knew what it was like to be alone. Was he to throw out it out just because of two men that had a fetish for snakes? He could talk to it after all and the sadness it the young serpent's voice struck a cord in his heart.  
Feeling obligated and since he was the only one that could possibly understand, he nodded and stocked the snakes red and golden scales - the kinda reminded him of the Gryffindor colors. Nothing with those colors could be evil…  
"Of course I'll be your friend"  
"Then I can stay?"  
"Yes, but you must stay hidden. I don't think my friends would understand after what happened to me a month ago" Harry sighed, picking up the elated cobra.  
"Understood young master. I am Mashita"  
The snake hissed, smiling with fangs. Harry couldn't help but laugh.  
"I'm Harry"  
"Its an honor Harry" she replied nodding her head.  
It looked as if she was about to say more when the sound of Hermione's footsteps out be heard in the hall. Mashita managed to slither under the covers just in time as his bushy haired friend flung the door open.  
"Time to get up - now!"

* * *

It was an hour before they had to meet with Kakashi and so it was Hermione's stupid idea to have them spend it with Ino, Shikamaru and Choji before Team Twelve had to go on a 'mission' of racking up leaves in the in some lord's backyard - forest that is.  
And it didn't turn out good either. Ten minutes into what had started as a friendly swapping strategically ideas between Ron and Shikamaru was turning into a shouting match. Actually it was Ron doing the shouting and while Shikamaru nonchalantly browbeat the redhead back with every remark.  
"Che, that's a stupid idea…"  
"It is not!"  
"Yeah it is"  
"Fine then, give me five good flaws!"  
"How troublesome... " Shikamaru sighed, rolling his eyes skyward as he looked at the boy next to him. Smirking lazily, he held up five fingers and began to tick them off one by one. "One: It was poorly thought up; Two: It lacks stealth; Three: Anyone nin with experience would know you were coming; Four: It would lead you into a trap; and Five: Your too much of a coward, so why bother?"  
Ron exploded.  
"I AM NOT A COWARD YOU LAZY BASTARD!"  
He growled, a vain throbbing nastily on his forehead as his face became as red as his hair.  
But the lazy boy just yawned. "Not a coward? Then why pray tell did you jump into Harry's arms that time Shino showed you those spiders he's been raising?"  
The redheaded wizard's face paled drasticlybefore flushing worse then his angry coloring.  
"Not fair - spiders are vile!"  
But as much enjoyment that Hermione got out of watching Ron have a hissy fit, seeing Harry practically in tears was better. The poor boy was currently being glomped by Ino as the blonde grinned sweetly and, what she hoped was seductivly, at him. She had spent the last twenty minutes trying to convince him to go out on a date with her, and to her disappointment, he refused every time.  
"Please Harry-kun!"  
"No"  
"How about - "  
"I said no"  
"But I just want to -"  
"NO ALREADY!"  
Harry was struggling in her iron grip, unable to brake her hold on him. The blonde kunochi was now looking as though she might go into hysterics, her eyes becomeing large and watery, if he didn't give her that one 'magic' word she longed to hear.  
"But Harry-kun, that's not being nice" she pouted. "Please, please, please, please, please, please - OUCH! Something bit me!"  
A strange mixture of shock, malicious glee and gratitude came to the raven haired wizard's face as Ino released her hold on him, a hand firmly clasped on her right butt cheek, allowing him to scramble away from her.  
"Well, sometimes fate will bite you on the ass unexpectedly!" he gasped as she sat down next to Choji.  
As the for the always eating, big-boned genin, Choji ignored them all with a smile as he munched on a bag of chips, occasionally giving some to Hermione as a peace offering so that she wouldn't start bickering about who much he ate. For the pair, that seemed to worked.  
Hermione herself was looking very tired. The idea of getting up and hour early to torment her best friends hadn't turned out as well as she would have liked. Half dead on her feet, the bushy haired witch couldn't even find herself bothered by the enormous intake of salt she was feeding herself thanks to Choji. The only consolation in it all was the fact that neither Ron nor Harry were very happy either, never really realizing that this whole situation was her fault to being with.  
So it ended when Shikamaru finally decided to ignore Ron by falling asleep. Infuriated, the redhead had jumped to his feet and dragged Harry and Hermione away with him. The three kids argued quietly amongst as their trek took them bridge in Team Seven's training field. Much to their shock, they saw something - someone - they least suspected.  
Waiting silently for them was Kakashi, leaning against the wooden railings, his faithful novel in one hand and a single eye raised in mock surprise.  
"And you always blame me for being late" he chided with a hidden grin. "What time is it now? Eight o'clock?"  
"Holy hell! He's early!" Ron yelled, not believing what he was seeing.  
Harry snickered as Hermione's face turned red.  
"Damn! I know you've worked hard on being just a half hour late, but this is ridiculous! The first time we take our time, you're early!"  
"Umm Hermione, it was kinda your fault - "  
"ZIPPIT!"  
Kakashi grinned mischievously behind his mask, completely unperturbed by the girl's lack of respect and angry manner - one learns to adapt in such environments. "Calm down - its all apart of being unpredictable. But I was on time this time because today's lessons aren't taking place here, but at Hokage Tower"  
"Hunh?"  
"Just what I said"  
"But - "  
The slivered haired jounin cut her off.  
"No time to talk, the Sandaime is waiting"  
Before they could blink, the four suddenly vanished in a swirl of leaves and reappeared within a cozy privet library that had hundreds of scrolls and books lining the walls. Hermione's protests died away as her eyes widened at the amazing sight before her. But while she was off in booklover's la la land, Harry and Ron just yawned. The redhead had been here before when he first met Konohamaru, and for the green eyed boy it was just another library.  
The interesting thing was what was in front of them. At the center of the room the elderly Hokage sat at a table where three scrolls of rather large size and three vials containing a murky golden liquid lay before him.  
"Good morning children" he smiled, and waved for the speechless wizards to sit.  
They gulped.  
"G-good morning Hokage-sama…"  
The elderly man chuckled softly, noting that the three British youths had actually remembered to tag on the honorific title rather then use sir like they normally did. Behind them Kakashi just rolled his uncovered eye and sighed as he sat down to read his book.  
"No need to worry. Kakashi has been thoughtful enough to bring you here this morning because Dumbledore-san has sent a request that you three being to learn the magical art of Animagi"  
Ron let out a sputtering cough. "But its illegal to do that without Ministry permission!"  
"And we are not in the in the wizarding world" Saturobi countered. "Since such rules do not apply to the Shinobi nation, and while you three are in it, it does not apply to you. Your headmaster and I agreed to some conditions for you three as well as ours at Hogwarts. Team Seven has already begun learning new jutsus in a privet class with my former students Tsunade and Jiraiya. Since it wouldn't be fair to you three, you'll also get the chance to learn more wizard magic"  
"But why animagus?" Harry asked, remembering Professor McGonagall turning into a cat.  
"Well, Dumbledore-san has realized that it would be of benefit to you children. Since young Naruto now has control of full control over taking the form of a ninetailed fox, we decided that the you five, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura included should also be given the chance to have such power"  
"Wow…"  
Hermione looked stupefied for once, her jaw slightly slack at the prospect of getting to learn something ahead of time. Smiling at her look of dumb shock, the Sandaime continued.  
"I've also spoken with Jiraiya. He trained Naruto for a period of time, during which he gave the boy the right to sign his summoning contract for toads. He figures that since Naruto can summon toads to battle, the rest should get a summon as well"  
Having been silent the whole time, Kakashi was also in shock. He hadn't been told that was what the Hokage had planed for either of his two teams. The jounin sat, novel forgotten, listening to amazing developments that he was hearing.  
Having been told after Harry's accident almost a month ago that Naruto and the fox had begun to merge as one, this seemed surprisingly fitting. It was a case in which adoptive little brother would have a chance at not being so different. But summoning contracts…  
"Wicked!"  
All attention was turned to Ron. The redhead blushed.  
"Well it is" he grinned and pointed to the vials containing the golden liquid. "That's the Animagus Reveal potion. Once it has been consumed, it brings out the inner beast of a specific individual. It is up to that individual to learn to control their new animal form - sometimes taking up to five years. Hell - I remember the time when Fred and George tried to steal a bottle of it off of Bill. I'd have bragging rights!"  
That only caused Hermione to glare and bop him on the head.  
"Like you don't brag enough. God, you're just like Dog Breath!"  
"Hey! No insulting my friends. Kiba's cool!"  
Harry groaned and shook his head. "So, what'll we be doing first?"  
"That would be the contracts" Saturobi nodded. "Each of you will choose one of the scrolls you see before you. I've taken these from a collection of ones I have received. You three will be the only people capable of summoning these lords since all of the other summoners are now deceased. As you have to do is unroll the scroll, bite your thumb to leave a print of blood to seal the contract and write your names next to it"  
The three wizards nodded eagerly. Harry went up first chose the middle scroll, Ron was next - choosing the scroll on the right and Hermione took the remaining on the left.  
They couldn't help but shiver at crisp yet smooth texture of the scroll as they held it in their hands. It was large, large enough to be strapped to one's back like the scabbard of an ancient knight. Looking over at each other, they nodded as one and let their scrolls be unfurled.  
Under the watchful gaze of the Hokage and Kakashi; Harry, Ron and Hermione proceeded to bite their thumbs. When the of the sacred red liquid had flowed from their wounds, they placed their thumbs down on the old parchment next to the names of the previous summoners, imprinting their blood upon the page. As soon as their names were written next to the bloodied thumbprint, it burned permanent.  
"Is that it?" Ron asked, sincerely hoping the answer would be yes.  
But much to his dismay, the two older men shock their heads, the latter hiding a secret smirk behind his mask.  
"The next step children," the Sandaime smiled. "Is to now summon the beast that you hope to be contracted to. In order to summon your contract animal, you'll need to use the Summoning Technique - Kuchiyose no Jutsu. You'll have to bite your thumbs again for your blood and strike the ground to bring them forth. There will also be a rite of passage, and it is different for each lord. If you pass the test, then you will be able to summon them or their people whenever you are in dire need of their aid"  
The silver haired jounin shuddered slightly, as if remember something horrid.  
"But lets leave the closed confines of this library. If you've seen the size that Gamabunta, Manda, Katsuya or even Enma get, you'd want to make sure it was in a big open space"  
Harry and Ron laughed out loud while Hermione did her best to hold back a snicker. After thanking the Hokage for all he had done for them, the three young wizards followed Kakashi, scrolls strapped to their backs. So in a puff of smoke and leaves, the group was once again within the familiar sprawl that was training field seven.  
Looking around, Harry turned to Kakashi with a frown.  
"Should we spilt up and do this on our own?" he asked, green eyes serious.  
The silver haired man paused a moment, as if he was debating the thought and then nodded. "That would probably be the best thing. You three didn't even bother to see which beast lord you were contracting yourselves to when you gave the scroll the seal of blood, so it'll be hard to tell how big they'll be"  
"You mean you don't even know what they are?"  
Hermione's mouth hung wide open, a shocking and unbecoming sight for her.  
"No," Kakashi laughed. "The Hokage collected those contracts when all the summoners listed within it were dead. A shame to let a great lord be forgotten when someone else might be worthy of them. As for me, I only know of a few. The Sandaime-sama is contracted to Enma the Ape Lord; Jiraiya-san and Naruto are contracted to Gamabunta the Toad Lord; Tsunade-san is contracted to Katsuya the Slug Lord; and… Orochimaru is contracted to Manda the Snake Lord…"  
The bushy haired girl couldn't help but feel Harry tense up next to her. For some reason that revelation made the raven haired more uncomfortable then she would have imagined. But before she would say a word to him, he and Ron were already separating to find their own secluded spots in the training field.  
Sighing wearily, she could do nothing but do the same.

* * *

Once their was nobody in the vicinity, Harry reached into his red coat's pocket and let Mashita slither up his arm. The young cobra happily hissed her thanks as she wrapped herself around his arm.  
"So you'll be making contract with a lord, master?" she hissed seductively.  
"Yes Mashita, I will be" Harry hissed in reply. "Tell me… do you know Voldemort or Orochimaru?"  
"Both I know, yes. Foolish snake-man of your world I hate - not worthy of our power is he. But Orochimaru holds the contract of my people. He be good snake-man to fellow snake, bad snake-man to fellow man. Ask me not if I would betray you - should I be summoned, I would have no choice"  
Harry nodded slowly. So his little snake friend hated Voldemort and could do nothing about Orochimaru due to the Snake contract. With a sigh, he knelt down and gently removed her from his arm.  
"Thank you Mashita, for being my friend. But I need you leave me for awhile. If I am to be summoning a lord, then your influence here might cause whoever I summon to turn me down - being friends with one of the Snakes I mean"  
"Understandable young master. I will come back when you are alone"  
"Thank you…"  
With a hissing pop and a puff of smoke, Mashita vanished, leaving Harry alone and with the task of a summoning at hand.  
The raven haired boy shuddered lightly, before reciting the summoning command over in his head. Once he was sure that no mistakes would be made, he took a deep breath, bit his thumb again and struck the ground, yelling out "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"  
The rumbling sound to follow was almost instantaneous. Rocking back on his heals, Harry nearly fell over ask an enormous form began to take shape and to his utter shock, it was a stag. The King Stag.  
With a rack of horns at least ten feet on a body of twenty, the creature was the most amazing thing the green eyed boy had ever seen. Smooth tri-colored fur of reds, browns and blacks shown brightly in the morning light, sparking such soulful light in the large topaz eyes. Around its neck hung a medallion of gold, baring the symbol of Artemis, Greek Goddess of the Hunt.  
"Why to you summon me boy?" it asked, its voice sounding sagely and old like a loving grandfather.  
Harry gulped.  
"M-may I have your name?"  
"I am Ojikama of the Stags"  
"It's a p-pleasure to meet you. I'm Harry" he grinned.  
Ojikama eyed him, scrutinizing every aspect of him. "Now boy, tell me why you have summoned me"  
"My teachers tell me that my friends and I should make contracts to the Beast Lords. There is coming danger, and I would like to be prepared for what I am inevitably going to have to face. I know that I'll have to prove myself worthy to you…"  
"You are interesting child, I'll give you that. Nothing like any of my former summoners. Now sit with and I'll explain to you what you must to gain my favor"  
Harry watched as Ojikama lowered himself down to the ground, laying regally upon the grass. He walked forward and sat down next the impressive stag, caught up still in the great beast majestic beauty. He smiled.  
"Tell anything. I've survived death by green lightning and horrors that I wouldn't even wish upon my enemies. I'm ready for anything" he replied confidently, revealing to the stag the lighting bolt scar upon his head.  
The Stag Lord nodded. "So, you are already marked by Zeus, God of Lightning. You must be strong then. Very well, the test I have for you will be very similar. Take my medallion and hold it to your hands. It will brand you with my mark, making you worthy of even of the Goddess of the Moon"

* * *

At the other end of training field seven, Ron too had found the appropriate spotto make do the summons. Full of confidence that he wouldn't screw up on something this important, the red haired boy shrugged off the impossibly large scroll and set it up against a tree.  
"Blah, blah, blah" he muttered to himself with distain, thinking of the smirk that Kakashi had tried to hide from them earlier. "Don't think we have it in us do you? Well I'll prove you wrong. This test I'll pass and not look like the foolish braggart…" he paused as the word came out of his mouth. "Ah, hell with it - bragging it fun"  
With a snicker to himself, Ron let him senses wander. Absolute privacy. His spirit wasn't hanging around to make some asinine comment about his teenage hormones or yes, that he liked to brag. Why he had been promised that idiot ghost that he'd bring it back to life was beyond him. As a wizard, he couldn't brake his vow and it was a shame too. Not only had his ghost convinced him into bringing it back to life, but it had also gotten him to promise that when Uchiha Sasuke returned to Konoha, that he'd help the put his clan to rest.  
Sometimes life wasn't fair.  
But ignoring such thoughts, Ron concentrated on the task at hand. Biting his poor thumb again was a necessary part of bringing his summoned creature to this plain of existence. He winced momentarily at the pain before striking his hand down upon the earth and yelled out the words "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"  
An instant later, something very, very large and hairy began to appear. This thing had to be as big as a two-story flat in back in London, but twice as big. The redhead boy whimpered piteously. Why did he have to get this summon?  
Through squinted watery eyes, he trembled at the sight of the creature before him. It was one huge-ass, bloody ugly…  
…spider!  
"Who has summoned me?" it bellowed from above, its many eyes focusing down on Ron.  
The redhead had to bite his tongue now to keep from crying out in fear. The monster before him was enormous, eight long knarred legs covered in the same coarse black hair as its egg shaped body, large menacing eyes so black it looked like death and upon its chest, the red kanji symbol for spider.  
But the thing that scared him the most were the saliva dripping jaws…  
"Answer me child! Why have you summoned me, Kumoyatsu of the Spiders?"  
Ron let out a sob then, collapsing to his knees and was unable to keep himself from crying hysterically . The Spider Lord looked down on the boy, his new summoner in shock. No summoner to have called it before him had ever acted this way before. Unsure of what to do, the massive spider spoke again.  
"Why do you act this way?"  
Still blubbering, Ron managed to get a few words out. "B-b-because I-I'm t-t-terrified of s-s-spiders!"  
Kumoyatsu was stunned. Did it really have a human child that was terrified of him and his people summon him.  
"Then why did you summon me" the spider asked, completely dumbfounded.  
"I-I didn't k-k-know that t-the contract w-was for s-s-spiders"  
"But why are you so afraid of us? Shinobi as raised to be stronger then this"  
"I-I w-wasn't raised as a-a shinobi. I w-was raised as a w-w-wizard. My b-brothers… they c-caught a whole j-jar f-full and p-put them in my bed while I was s-sleeping. I've b-been afraid ever s-since…" Ron stuttered so bad he was almost ready to start crying again.  
Kumoyatsu let out a sigh. "Siblings do horrible things boy, but you should not let that influence that way you see things. I sense that you have great power and I would be willing to be your summon… but I will not tolerate such a disgrace to my people and to myself. If you want a summon creature, I am the only one you'll ever get. Over come you fears boy - climb up onto my back and sit there an hour to prove, not to me, but to yourself that you are worthy"

* * *

"How troublesome…"  
Hermione yawned as wandered though the field looking for the perfect spot for herself. She had defiantly spent too much time around Shikamaru and his teammates since she found herself speaking like him. She'd much rather not be like the lazy genin at all and before her normal diligent self - he can have those idiosyncrasies all to himself.  
But it was troublesome.  
Far off in the distance she could already hear Harry and Ron getting their summons underway and she still hadn't found the optimum place to call forth her mystery animal yet. Just plan tired of looking, Hermione stopped. It would be good enough right here.  
Massaging her aching shoulders, the bushy haired girl straitened the cumbersome scroll upon her back and took a deep breath. Her thump was still tender and she knew she'd defiantly have to find a medic-nin or even Hyuuga Hinata afterwards.  
Taking the plunge, Hermione bit her thumb once again, crying out as she did so and struck the ground with all her might as she yelled out "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"  
Moments later the wind picked up and stared to spin around, howling light a tornado. Dust and leaves were sucked into the central point, the area in which her animal lord would arrive. From the swirling wind, a pair of wings tore through, banishing the clouds that concealed it. Hermione gapped in shocked wonder.  
Feathers of umber and tan rippled in the light breeze that still blew. Intricate ceremonial beads of all colors decorated its tails feathers and massive flowing eye brows, as well there was chain of talons that belted its waist was such a symbol of power it could take your breath away.  
"Fukurou…" she whispered in awe. "Lord of the Owls"  
Large intelligent eyes stared down at her, unfathomable and as secretive as sapphires.  
"You know of me child?" the oldest of the owls cooed. "And to think that no one, not even my previous summoners were so wise. Tell me girl, what do you know of me?"  
Hermione smiled.  
"Ledges say that when the world was new and was ruled by the mighty beasts, that you brought knowledge to the world. It was a gift that you offered to all races, but warned that it should be used with caution, as its power could do devastating things. You told them that when they were ready all they had to do was open themselves up to it. But for some, it was like Pandora's Box. The expanse of knowledge had its price - it released within those that used it for personal or conquering means would unleash their inner demons"  
Fukurou nodded, and gave her a beaky smile.  
"And what happened after that?"  
"The evil that was unleashed into your animal brethren created the demons that we know of today. It spilt the great deities into three categories - the elementals, the god and the demons. The elements were both good and evil, a perfect blend, while the gods and the demons seemed to fluctuate. Gods were meant to be the embodiment of good and the demons the embodiment of evil. But things change, such as it is with nature. Gods can be evil and demons can be good - its brings everything back to the knowledge that was given. It can mean redemption or damnation. Simply put - be careful what you wish for"  
The owl laughed happily, flapping its wings and creating another dust storm.  
"So may I know that name of this most knowledgeable child before me?" she hooted.  
Hermione couldn't keep herself from blushing with embarrassment and bowed.  
"Its Hermione, milord"  
"Oh posh with the Lord title - I'm a Lady. A great, great grand-owl to hundreds of thousands of owlets big and small"  
"Whoops, sorry milady"  
"No need for that either" Fukurou laughed. "I like you"  
Hermione blushed again. "So… what is the test I have to do to prove myself?"  
The owl laughed out loud again, a great hooting that filled the air.  
"You really are a silly girl. You have already passed the test - a little knowledge goes a long way"

* * *

Seated with his back against a tree near the bridge, Hatake Kakashi was getting to the best to the best part in well-read first addition copy of Come, Come Paradise. It had been an hour and a half since he had watched his three students disappear off in opposite directions to summon up their new contract animals in peace.  
The silence was heavenly. Free of Hermione and Ron's annoying bickering or even Harry's hilariously failed attempts at being the mediator. It reminded him a lot about the others. How Sakura and Naruto always bickered, all because the pink haired girl wouldn't let the blonde get away with slandering her crush. And Sasuke who would sit back at watch it with a glare of hatred on his face.  
Preadolescence - you got to hate it.  
But even in thinking about that reminded him about himself. The painful memories about how Rin and Obito would go at, ready to tare out each others throats whenever they started to argue over who's ideas were better. In the end they always mad at him because Minato-sensei would take his ideas rather then wait for those two to finish their banter.  
Brushing those memories aside, Kakashi went back to his book.  
"Hey, Kakashi!"  
Three simultaneous voices chorused from three different sides of him, making the poor twenty-eight year old shudder. He looked up with is uncovered eye to see that Harry, Ron and Hermione had completed what they had set out to do.  
The raven haired boy had a smile on his face, his right head cluched gently to his chest. The red haired boy liked sick to his stomach - almost like he was ready to puke. As for the bushy brown haired girl, she had a triumphant grin that was reminiscent to a Cheshire cat stretched across her face.  
The three met up at the bridge, dropping everything to sit down.  
"So, what were your summons?" the jounin asked, sighing sadly as he had to return his book to his vest.  
Like always, it was Hermione that spoke first.  
"I have Fukurou of the Owls" the bushy haired girl babbled excited. "She was very nice and the test was easy - all I had to do was tell her about herself. I had soo much fun"  
Harry chucked softly and trying to hide a wince. Though it didn't go unnoticed by Kakashi's eye.  
"Are you alright Harry?"  
"Yeah…" the raven haired boy smiled weakly. "My test was pain endurance…"  
Hermione looked confused. "What do you mean?"  
To answer the question, Harry gingerly opened his hand to reveal the blacked mark of crossbow on his plam. Although perfectly healed, it was still very tender. Hiding the mark in his lap, he looked up at them with a satisfied smile.  
"My summon is Ojikama of the Stags. That mark was to prove me worthy of the Hunt Goddess. He also told me once the branding was complete that he sensed stag in me. Apparently my father's soul animal was a stag…"  
There was silence for a few minutes as they waited for Ron to speak, but he didn't. Upon closer inspection they noticed that the red haired boy now had fine streaks of platinum running through his hair. The look on his face was withdrawn as if his mind was somewhere else.  
"Ron?"  
Harry snapped a finger in front of his best friend's face. Ron suddenly snapped out of it with a gasp, his eye filled with wild horror.  
"Hunh? Oh, its only you Harry" Ron grinned, but it was more of a grimace. With a sigh of relief, the boy began to comb his hair with his fingers. "So you want to know why my hair has started to turn white right?"  
He snickered almost insanely that was a whimper at best, commanding the full attention of his team.  
"Terror. My hair turned white from terror. I don't blame you guys for getting the cool contracts, but mine… it was pure torture…"  
Kakashi eyed Ron with shock. "And what are you so afraid of that it could do that to you?"  
Harry had the answer.  
"Spiders"  
Hermione's mouth dropped open. She also knew how much her redheaded friend was scared of spiders and could feel nothing but sympathy for him.  
"Yep," he nodded. "I was the unlucky one that get spiders. Kumoyatsu was bloody gigantic! I mean he's bigger my house! My rite of passage was to sit on his back for an hour. He told me it was suppose to help me over come fear of his people, but all I could think about was getting eaten by those humongous jaws of his…"  
All Kakashi could do was give a reassuring smile. "Think of it this way - you survived the ordeal"  
"Very funny…"  
"Well you can always pray to night"  
"Why?"  
"You three will using the Animagus Potion tomorrow. Because Fate is really as cruel as you think it is, you'll really have arachnophobia for the rest of your life"


	21. Chapter 21Animagus Potion Growing Pains

Chapter Twenty One - Animagus Potion Growing Pains

"I can't believe this is happening! Why now? Why ever?"

"It was unforeseen Minato-kun. How were we suppose to know that the Bakufu would think of doing such a thing? It was suicide"

Turing, the golden haired young took a deep, his blue eyes tinted red from tears that wouldn't come.

"But I should have known Saturobi-sama! For Kushina and Kaji's sake!"

The older man, shoulders refusing to bow, sighed sadly. "I know you feel that way. Knowing your wife's past, it is completely reasonable. But it wasn't your fault that the dragon-god discovered the existence of your unborn born child or the type of beast that could sealed inside him. That infernal clan made the mistake of summon that demon, then to rob it of its sanity and to tell it that Konoha was at fault - I mean the fox destroyed them anyway"

"I know!" Minato snapped with frustration and began to pace with worry. "Our people are dying because of a power hungry tyrant that has already gotten his dues. The stress has caused Kushina to go into early labor and I can't be there at her side! Only Kami knows if either she or our son will live. Ryuusaku knew what he was doing when he summoned Kyuubi. Wither he lived or not, he knew that I would have to seal the monster inside Kaji if any of us were to live. He has already gotten his revenge…"

"But what are we going to do? Our best shinobi are being killed left and right. We don't even have the sealing jutsus that allow such a thing so there's no why to stop the demon's power"

Minato growled and looked at the blood-soaked ground. All of Konoha - his village, his people, were in ruin. There was a way to stop the demon, but did he have the courage to do the unspeakable? Could he really…

"There is a way…"

Saturobi looked up at him in shock. "How?"

Minato sighed and ran a hand through his thick golden hair.

"Ever since Kushina-koi confessed about her clan's horrible history, I've been working on a modified seal - one that would cage a deity within the host rather then let it have full control. Instead, the seal would work in reverse, allowing the Jinchuuriki to absorb the deity over the course of fifteen years. But the vassal would have to be newborn…"

Saturobi's dark tired eye widened in shock. "You don't mean you're going to sacrifice your own son?"

"It's the only way!" the blonde Hokage cried out. "The Fuuinjutsu Shikifuujin is the only thing that can save Konoha now. As a heir of the Bakufu curse, Kaji is the only human that can safely contain the Kyuubi's spirit without being torn apart or driven insane…" and as a afterthought added " And I feel pity for the poor child of the Kazekage and what he will endure when he is born…"

Minato's fist unconsciously clenched. It hadn't been long ago that he'd discovered that the Kazekage of Wind Country had sealed the insane raccoon demon Shakaku within his wife's unborn child. Rumor was that he planned to use the child as a weapon of war, and if he wasn't able to bend his son to his will, he'd kill him.

But the sound off running feet could be heard from behind them. When he turned to see who approached, he found that it was not one of the fighting shinobi, but rather a very bloody and distraught medic-nin. The green haired and bloodstained young woman was barely managing to contain her fragile sobs as she neared them, her delicate frame shacking harshly.

Panting, the medic collapsed at Minato's feet. It was only then did the young man recognize her as one of the few medics that had remained in the hospital to care for Kushina…

"Y-Yondaime-sama…" the woman sobbed. "I-it was t-to much. We c-couldn't stop the b-b-bleeding…"

"Clam down. What happened?" he gasped as he knelt down and gripped her by the shoulders.

Tears continued to spill as she looked up into his eyes.

"T-the b-birth of your s-son took everything p-poor Kushina-sama h-had. After K-Kaji-san w-was born, she b-began to hemorrhage. We all t-tried to help. Every medic did w-what they c-could to try and s-save her. Oh I'm s-so sorry Hokage-sama, but y-your wife has left us one l-last time…"

The poor medic broke down then sobbed hard as Minato knelt beside her in numb horror. His mind seemed almost sluggish as it took in the information that he had just been given. Kushina was dead? It couldn't be… she was too much of fighter to leave him…

Drawn by sheer instinct, the blonde was on his feet and running as fast as his legs would carry him. He flashed through the battles and monstrous demon's assaults from above. These were his people fighting for their lives in a terrible battle that had only just begun. But he was of no use to them right now. Fueled by a grief that tore his heart to shreds, the Yellow Flash had only one destination in mind.

It had had taken him mere moments to cross the village and enter the hospital, working his way to the vary room that his mind screamed at him not to enter. Entering anyhow, his ears were met by the sound of crying, but most of all the wretched sobs of a newly born infant.

On one end of the room three medics stood back, one holding tightly to a sobbing bundle. They looked as he entered, grief evident in their eyes.

"Hokage-sama…" one of the medics whispered.

Unhearing, Minato crossed the room and gently pulled back the thin white sheet that covered his wife's face. Kneeling down next to the bloodied bed, he looked down at her pale face - how robbed of life is was. He reached out a shacking hand and softly stroked her now cooling cheek. To look at her was almost ethereal, as if she wasn't really gone. Her beauty remained, as did her form, but soul has long since departed.

Tears unshed finally slowly began to roll down his cheeks. He was Hokage, the Yondaime, the one man that was meant to protect his people. But one woman… he couldn't even save his own wife.

"I'm so sorry kiobito. I should have been here with you…" he whispered quietly.

Standing suddenly, he rubbed his face tiredly with one hand. Slowly he returned to sheet, hiding her pale face so it could not brake his heart any more then it already was. Turing back to the silent medics, he numbly walked over to the one holding his son. Words unspoken, the child was handed over into the waiting arms of his new father.

Minato smiled sadly as he looked down at tiny infant. Flawless pink tinted skin and a sunny mop of golden hair. An absorb button of a nose that was so like his mother's as were his tiny lips. Impossibly small fingers reached out by instinct to curl around one of his own. It was then did the baby open his eyes. Large electric blue orbs filled his small face as he stared up at his father innocently, fearless of the fate that awaited them both. The thought of sacrificing this beautiful child nearly brought him to his knees. How would be able to do such a thing to his own flesh and blood?

"Please," he began, and looked at the medics one by one. "There is something I must do that will save us all. I know that you will never be able to understand my choice, but it is all I have"

Before any of the medics could say a single word, Minato vanished, his son tucked safely in his arms. As he returned to the battle field with his newborn child, he knew what the outcome would be. Meeting again with Saturobi had been the easy part, telling the old man what was to take place wasn't.

Life now was like a kaleidoscope, forever spinning out of control. He could hardly register what was happening in the world around him. It was his final moment, the one second that would save and damn his soul. While he rode atop of Gamabunta's head and faced the murderous intent in the Kyuubi's blood red feline eyes, it was like time was slowing down. Beyond the maw of the great beast and even the dark Shinigami that waited for the inevitable sacrifice, his fate was sealed.

"Fuuinjutsu Shikifuujin"

As soon as the words of the sealing jutsu were past his lips, Minato felt an unimaginable burning clamp down upon his heart. He watched with mild satisfaction as terror filled the Kyuubi's eyes before it let out and inhuman scream of pain, spiraling down into the abyss.

What happened next was a blur. He remembered little as he knelt uneasily with Saturobi at his side, and placed his hands directly over his son's bare stomach. The child began to sob wildly as the tainted soul of the demon was funneled inside of him and locked away until the day they died. The seal, the brand that marked the prison of the Kyuubi was now burned black over the infant's navel. Eyes blurring, Minato watched with a mix of intense sorrow and longing as Kaji opened his tear-filled blue eyes to look upon him one last time.

"I am so sorry for what I have done to you my son. I know you'll survive and I'll always be there to watch over you, even if you can't see me. I love you…"

And with a violent shudder Minato backed away. Collapsing into Saturobi's open arms, the young blonde smiled wanly up at the elder.

"It is done…" he wheezed softly. "Please make sure that son is seen as the hero that he is. The people have no idea how much they owe him…"

Breathing his last, Minato left his soul being removed from his body by the Shinigami. Memories whirled about his fading mind like dancing leaves in the wind. He could still hear Kushina's voice, the tingling lightness of it as they discussed the possible danger to their child with Saturobi.

'If anything should happen to us, make sure that Kaji is safe - even if you should have to change his name. If you should call him anything, call him Uzumaki Naruto - Uzumaki after my beloved nii-san Maki and Naruto for Minato-koi's impossible love of ramen…'

Then it all faded, and yet he remained, a shadow everything else gone.

Defense Against the Dark Arts - the second best class in the whole school to sleep during. Make sure you know Professor Lockhart's favorite color is lavender, and you'll pass the course with top marks. At this moment, the flashy professor was dressed in pastels while he raved on and on about the time a lovely maiden from the clutches of a nasty vampire with the minty freshness of his breath.

As long as there were a few girls awake to swoon over him, he hardly noticed the sound of his other snoring students. It seemed the that the one thing the Gryffindors and Slytherins (still struggling from their loss of Draco Malfoy) could agree on was that Professor Lockhart was a fag.

The only thing that managed to save the children from death by boredom was the loud going of the school bell, signaling the end of class.

"H-hey Naruto - class is over"

The blonde snapped awake with a gasp, his blurry eyes focusing on Neville. His timid, pudgy friend stood there was a half a smile, his arms loaded down with books.

"How long was I asleep for?" he asked, yawning so wide his fangs showed.

"More t-then half the class. You s-snored…"

"I really must have been tired. Thanks for covering for me"

Naruto stood up, but his brain seemed to foggy that he began to sway on his feet and would have fallen over had it not been for the other boy dropping his books and catching him. Smile with gratitude, the blonde knelt with the pudgy boy to help him gather up the book. When Neville finally looked back up, he face was written with concern.

"H-have you been sleeping alright?"

Naruto yawned again. "Yeah, sure I have. Why?"

"Now that's a lie…"

'Shut up Kyuubi'

"Well the boy is right - you haven't been" the fox sniffed indignantly. "Ever since that pervert told you the truth, you keep having those nightmares…"

He mentally gave the ninetails a kick. 'Like you even care'

As the pair headed for the door, the blonde looked over at his friend as they existed the dungeon classroom. Neville looked worried - really worried. It was something Naruto wasn't used to seeing when he was concerned and seeing his friend look like that bothered him.

"Well…" Neville started, after having been so quite. "I can't s-sleep much myself - never have. I think about my parents… and how m-much I wish they could remember me…"

The blonde stopped.

"What about your parents?"

The timid boy winced.

"Y-you've heard the tales about You-Know-Who right? It was horrible back then and from what my gran has told me, I'm g-glad I wasn't old enough to remember…"

He began to walk faster, leaving Naruto to catch up.

"Well," Neville continued. "It w-wasn't long after his after his defeat that some of his remaining followers attacked my family. Even though my mum and dad where trained in fighting evil w-wizards like that, they were defenseless. They were t-tortured until they d-driven insane - they don't even recognize me"

"At least you still have parents…"

Neville turned to him, face written with confusion.

"Naruto…"

The blonde laughed bitterly, but looked at his friend with nothing but respect. "That's not even my real name. If you want, you can call me Kaji. Up until a few days ago, I had no idea who I really was. For reasons still unknown to me, I was lied to about my parents. Turns out my mother died during child birth and my father sacrificed his soul all on the same day…"

Neville flinched.

"I'm s-sorry"

Naruto smiled softly and shook his head.

"Don't be. Lots of children lost their families that day. I seem to find other orphans wherever I go and I understand that we all have different stories - some worse then others. Take Sasuke-teme for example - he was eight years old when his older brother slaughtered their entire clan"

The timid boy's mouth dropped open. "So that's why he cries in sleep…"

Naruto stopped again, his hand grabbing onto Neville's arm.

"He cries in his sleep?"

Neville didn't answer.

Instead he look over at the blonde with sad eyes that spoke of much pain. Naruto remembered the Sandaime telling him when he was very young that a person's eyes were the windows to their souls. It made perfect sense when he thought about the people he knew that had the most 'vocal' souls he had ever seen.

Neville's eyes were filled with burgeoning fear; Tsunade's eyes were filled with inner heartbreak; Snape-sensei's eyes were filled with obvious resentment; Sasuke's eyes were filled with bitter betrayal; and his own… his own eyes were filled with question - questions that always changed in emotion.

Looking back at the boy next to him, he got his answer. Even after everything he had gone through, Naruto had not expected Neville's reply to be what it was.

"You do too"

"We get to become animals! We get to become animals!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and groaned, putting his hands over his poor harassed ears to drowned out the sound of Sakura gushing about what they would be doing in their privet class with Tsunade and Jiraiya today. Mostly he was still put out from yesterday's class and the summon contracts they had gotten.

Snakes…

He had been unwitting contracted to SNAKES!

The two sennins had no idea how it happened, but some how the Snake contract ended up in his possession. When he and Sakura had used the summoning technique, they had no idea what they were going to get other then what their senseis told them. The pink haired kunochi had known all along that she was going to get Slugs because it was Tsunade's personal summon, but they had no idea was he was going to get.

Jiraiya had eagerly explained that he had returned to Konoha to retrieve one of the few unused contracts that the Sandaime had in his collection. So it was to everyone's shock when it turned out that contract he had just signed was for Snakes - Orochimaru's personal summon. Sasuke shuddered as he remembered the smug serpentine smile on Manda's scaly maw, as the Lord of Snakes laughed at him.

'Fate is cruel child, is it not?' the massive snake had chuckled. 'History has nearly made a full circle. You'll understand in time your 'new' importance to my other summoner. You are stuck with me know and have fun whilst it lasts. It is only a matter of time before darkness falls…'

He hated it when people, or animals, were cryptic with him. Naruto had been that way for the last few days since Sasuke had been forced to drag the blonde back into the castle before he died of hypothermia. Out of the corner of his eyes, he watched as the fox boy walked into the classroom, late, while unconsciously fiddling with the green stone that hung by chain around his neck (the symbol that he had won his bet with the blonde sennin), his mind somewhere else.

The truth had really hit the other boy hard.

He had decided he would wait to let Naruto tell Sakura the truth about his parents on his own, and heaven forbid, Jiraiya as well. Knowing that white haired sennin had been the Yondaime's sensei and that the old pervert was still oblivious to truth about his student's son, no matter how much the pair looked alike, was almost too much for Naruto. He would wait, but for how long was a mystery.

Ignoring Naruto and focusing on the front of the classroom, Sasuke tired to keep his mind on what was being said by the big breasted sennin at that very moment. Tsunade stood behind the desk that held two vials of murky golden liquid, her hands planted firmly down on either side of them.

"Okay now. We will now be moving onto the Animagus Reveal Potion" she said, trying to smile at the two genin before her. "There are many steps to this after the initial transformation. It may hurt, to whatever extent your soul animal is. You will remain in beast form for a matter of minute before reverting back to your natural states and from then on you'll have to train in staying in your second form for unlimited time"

Sakura blanched. "You mean it isn't permanent thing? But Naruto - "

Tsunade sighed and at the moment, Sasuke knew exactly how she felt.

"Naruto can change and remain as a fox for as long as he likes because of the effect the fox demon had on his body when their souls began the merging. He didn't have to what you have to. With this wizard's potion, the user has to train their body into retaining the form. It can take up to five years or more before someone can successfully stay transformed for more then two hours. You'll also have to train your minds as well. Depending on the animal you become - the wild instincts come as part of the package"

The pink haired girl gapped for a moment before she turned to look at him. He gave her an perturbed smirk, showing her that he wasn't worried one bit by the information like she was, but rather he was ready to meet all challenges. It was eager and unfaltering - he knew what he wanted.

"Well…?"

"Hunh?" Sakura gasped and looked at him again.

"Are you ready?" he asked impatiently. "We don't have all day"

She glared at him and reached for the vial closest to her.

Uncorking the vial, he took a deep breath, eyes still locked on Sakura with an 'I dare you to go first' look as she did the same and they downed their potions in a single gulp.

The burning sensation came instantly, tarring through him worse then any injury that he ever had to endure. It felt as it his bones were shattering and reforming as the sickening spinning world around him seemed to get very large. The only enjoyment he got out of this whole experience was the sadistic pleasure in the knowledge that Sakura must be suffering just as much. And even though he that everything perfectly fine with what was happening and nothing was going to go wrong, a panic so undiluted that is began to scream through his veins came over him.

'What the hell is going on!'

His vision dulled and went gray, but the panic didn't go away - it only intensified. Feeling very small, he had never been this afraid for nearly five years… ever since Itachi slaughtered their clan…

It was an experience like no other.

'What kind of animal am I?' he thought, his new body felling oddly familiar yet completely foreign as he looked down to see a pair of tiny white paws in front of him. 'What's going on?'

Then his new nose started to twitching spastically. He could suddenly smell danger. Looking around in a jerky motion, Sasuke could only see the legs of the desks around him. But something was missing…

'Sakura?'

His question was answered as his now highly sensitive earspricked at the sound of clicking nails. Raising his head ever so slowly with eyes wide, he looked up to see that perched on a desk directly above his head was a very, very large hawk. He froze instantly as he noticed that the bird of pray looked down at him with hunger glinting in it's beady eyes. Understanding the basic laws of nature, the transformed boy realized that he was moved down the on the food chain…

He was the pray.

That fact alone caused his tiny heart to pound like a cage bird. If he didn't run soon, he'd be shredded by the vicious talons. So as it was, the proud Uchiha heir succumb and let his new animal instincts take control. Fueled by his new found terror, Sasuke launched himself into a run that would a gauntlet for his very life…

.-

One minute Naruto had been perfectly happy with zoning out everything that went on around him, like Sasuke and Sakura's imminent transformations into some sort of freakish creatures. He found himself mulling over what Neville had said earlier, and would have continued on doing just that if it hadn't been for the sound of obaa-chan's frantic shouting shocked him out of his reverie.

"What the - "

The blonde had to rub his eyes vigorously just to make sure that what he was seeing was what he was actually seeing. He watched in absolute shock - what he was seeing was real.

"Sakura! Get yourself under control before you kill him!"

Tsunade was in the middle of throwing various stunners jutsus at a large pink hawk that was cashing after a fluffy white bunny!

Naruto literately feel out of seat as he started to die with laughter. He caught sight of rabbit's big terrified red eyes and the strange black spot of fur on its left shoulder that resembled the curse seal and knew instantly that it was Sasuke! Oh karma had really gotten his dark haired teammate this time. Who would have thought that the great and powerful Uchiha survivor's soul animal was a bunny?

With tears of laughter in his eyes, the foxy blonde watched as the tiny rabbit dodged under the desks to avoid the rather sharp talons of the hawk that wanted to eat it. If it was possible, Naruto started to laugh harder as he realized the hawk had to be Sakura. Imagine how the poor girl would feel when she found out that she had eaten the boy of her dreams…

"STOP LAUGHING YOU BRAT AND HELP ME!" Tsunade hollered at him as she kept repeatedly missing her moving target.

"Calm down obaa-chan!"

She didn't get much of a chance to yell at him again because the Sasuke the Rabbit gave a squeal that was soo blackmail material and suddenly launched himself into the blonde's arms, scratching furiously at his clothing as hawk narrowed in for the kill. Biting the inside of his cheek to still his laughter, Naruto pulled out his wand, made aim and fired.

"Stupefy!"

The stunning charm hit Sakura dead on. With a screech, the pink feathered bird dropped out of the air to land with a hollow thump on the stone floor, completely stunned. Returning his wand to his robe pocket, Naruto looked down at the bunny in his arms. Sasuke was twitching limply as if he were having a seizure.

Seconds later, the transformation reverted, Sasuke being held aloft in Naruto's arms, and with momentum off balance, the two boys went crashing to the ground. The pale boy's cheeks were beat red with embarrassment as Naruto howled with laughter for the second time.

It was at times like these that Sasuke really wanted to kill Naruto.

"T-thank you!" the blonde gasped though hiccups that wrecked his body. "Thank you so much!"

Sasuke glared menacingly.

"What for?"

"For the best five minutes of my life!"


	22. Chapter 22Holiday Fiascos

Chapter Twenty Two - Holidays Fiascos

Jiraiya sat at the head table with the rest of the staff, tiredly eating his breakfast and trying to get past the thoughts that had been plaguing him for damn near the whole month. The snow had started to fall and continued to fall since December crept up upon the occupants of the castle of Hogwarts. But even though he tried to concentrate on the deep glittering blankets of the white stuff that much more then they ever got back home in Fire Country, he always seemed to be distracted by one thing.

Naruto.

The blonde had been rather distant from this month and for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why. A clawing at his stomach - that wasn't the screaming to be nourished - told him that it was as something simple; something that he should know if he wasn't so dense. It had to be something big and his fault because he had even caught the little twerp call him Jiraiya-sensei rather then ero-sennin.

Such a dramatic change in name calling was serious!

Raising his eyes and looking across the hall over Gryffindor table, he watched as the blonde fox-boy argued with the Uchiha brat and the pink haired Haruno girl, laughed about pranks with those redheaded twins, and occasionally spoke with his various other housemates. But today was different. Today was the day that the staff got a blissful two weeks free of teaching and the students got to return home to their families for the holidays. And even though those three sure didn't expect to be going back to Konoha for Christmas, and even though they weren't, one should always be prepared.

Yawning, Jiraiya was about to get up from the table when a black owl with large golden eyes appeared in swirl of feather before him with a scroll clutched in its claws.

"Hiya! Are you Jiraiya-sama?" the bird asked cheerfully, its voice causing everyone inside the hall to go deathly quite.

Who wouldn't?

"Yes… and you are?"

"I'm Fukuya! Messenger owl extraordinaire!"

"And why are you here?"

Fukuya rolled its eyes before replying smugly, "Message delivery - what does it look like?"

Jiraiya scowled.

"And who is sending me as a message?"

"Why Hermione-sama-chan summoned me to deliver a letter to you from her perverted sensei - the lazy sliver haired scarecrow-man that reads those dirty books"

"Hey! I write those books" the white haired man snapped back indignantly. "They are exceptional reading material!"

"Usurahentai! Take your massage so I can go - I don't want to be corrupted by your presence!"

Fukuya dropped the scroll on the sennin's plate and vanished just as suddenly as it had arrived. Whispers started to brake out all over the hall as the students chattered about the talking owl while one certain blonde haired boy laughed is head off at what the owl had just said.

Sending a glare at the Naruto, Jiraiya ignored the stares from the rest of the staff and unfurled the scroll.

Jiraiya-sama,

It was good to hear from you. I'm pleased that Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke have been improving both in their magical studies and they few shinobi studies that you and Tsunade-sama have been able to offer them. If things could have been different, it would have be nice if someone could have come here to help Harry, Hermione and Ron with their magic - though I can assure they still know enough and a have the 'scars' to prove it too.

As to your request for a joint training excursion, I like the idea. Testing the six of them will be a good way to gage the abilities and strengths they have gained over these last five months. I have only a two warnings to give you before I see you. First, please refrain from saying anything perverted in front of Hermione. That girl can be nasty, but with a new sakubato she had the Ikegatas commission for her, she's deadly. Second, due to his bloodline limit, Ron has nasty ways of getting even with people when they piss him off. You don't really have to worry about Harry - he might be the strongest on the team, but he's the gentlest of those three.

Anyway, if the holiday's begin to day like Hermione has said, then I'll be seeing you four soon. Make sure to come prepared and I'm certain you know where we'll be meeting.

- Kakashi

Jiraiya smirked and when he looked back up, he noticed that everyone had long finished with breakfast and had left him alone in the now deserted Great Hall.

"Well…" he sighed, talking to nobody but himself, I guess I gotta go round up those brats"

.-

Since today was the day that students would be catching the Hogwarts Epress of home, classes had ended yesterday. Everyone had rushed back to their domatories and packed, excited about who they'd see and what they'd get in the next two weeks. So all the time before the train came at lunch hour gave those who were remaining and those who were waiting a chance to have some fun in the snow.

And was it ever snowing!

Not the miniscule amounts that would fall during the winter months in Fire Country, but really damn snowing! It had snowed three feet in the last few days and wasn't giving up. Wrapped up tightly in her plush red/pink winter cloak, Sakura sat in awe as she watched the next half a foot's worth fall from the heavens above, as well as being commonly interested in a snowball fight of Naruto, Fred and George vs. Sasuke be waged in the courtyard.

She smiled. "Now this is entertainment…"

'ARE YOU CRAZY?' Inner Sakura yelled dramatically within her mind. 'THIS IS THE BEST! OH YEAH!'

She couldn't help but snicker as the dark haired Uchiha was pelted from every direction and wasn't able to get his bearings back while the others threw - so much for having the 'all powerful Sharingan'. With all his frowning, he should have been happy those snowballs weren't kunai or he'd be a pincushion.

"You're getting slow teme! Don't tell me my rival has gone soft?" Naruto hollered as he let another snowball fly.

"Never!" Sasuke snarled back, ducking and dodging the white projectiles. "I won't be beaten by a dead-last and two carrot-tops"

At the dead-last part, the fox-boy bristled.

"I'll show you a dead-last basard!"

Whipping out his wand, the blonde cast a multiplication charm of one of the snowballs causing it to become hundreds. As much as Sakura hated seeing anyone bash her crush, Sasuke looking like a snowman was actually reather cute. As if knowing that her eyes were on him - his sixth sense had grown greatly with the fact that she was always staring at him - the dark haired boy scowled, brushing off the snow excess snow.

During those seconds he was distracted, the pale boy was pegged in the face with a well aimed magical slush ball. As sloppy snow dripping from hair and down pale face, she couldn't help but given into the temptation of laughter - and got a snowball in the face as well. There was a mere fraction of second in which Sakura stood back, shock written completely over her face as Inner Sakura fumed and Sasuke smirked.

'I MIGHT LOVE HIM, BUT HE IS SOO NOT GETTING AWAY WITH THAT!'

It meant war!

"DIE!"

With a burst of speed that shocked even herself, Sakura had pounced on Sasuke and smeared his face into the snow. Shocked even more that she had momentarily allowed Inner Sakura's rage to take control (which seemed to happening more often), the embarrassed pink haired kunochi leapt off the crushed boy with a blush to be proud of.

"Oops…"

Inner Sakura put a hand to her mouth, hiding an evilly grin of triumph. 'OOOOH THAT'S GOTTA STING! I HOPE I DIDN'T BREAK ANYTHING...'

Sasuke raised his face from the snow coughing and sputtering, his own skin tone an unhealthy maroon due to an icy frozen rash.

"Oops? What the hell was that for?"

She managed a weak, but prideful grin. "You should never do such a thing to a lady. If I was any crueler, I could simply sic the whole 'International We Love Uchiha Sasuke Association of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry' on you"

'THAT WOULD TEACH HIM!'

Sakura ignored her inner self and watched as the stoic boy's dark eyes widened, his the blood draining from his face as a group of giggling girls suddenly peeked out from behind a corner of the castle. One waved and another blew a kiss before the group turned and ran of cackling like a coop full of chickens.

Sakura crossed her arms as she stared down at him, Inner Sakura superimposed over her figure with a slow almost sinister grin spreading across her face, green eyes glinting.

"But they bow to me first! As their beloved president, you stay untouchable by anyone but me! Count your blessings or I'll throw you to the hoards"

'HELL YEAH! YOU'D BETTER BELIEVE IT!'

Sasuke tried to hide a wince as he turned away from her to glare at the other three laughing boys.

Fred snickered, and batted a hand playfully. "Oh you just have to love a girl with a masochistic backbone," he grinned piteously at Sasuke. "But she's yours mate. Have fun your 'innocence' while it lasts"

The Uchiha turned red for three reasons - from cold, anger and embarrassment. Naruto and George weren't helping any as they were both currently rolling around in the snow laughing their guts out.

The older red haired boy had tears freezing on his eyelashes before they could drip away. "Yeah, I think she's been spending too much time with that hot medic. I remember she nearly broke poor Lee's nose the day he asked her if her bust-size was real"

"That was him?" Naruto crowed, his sunny hair white from the all the snow in it. "That was the day I woke up from that coma. She was complaining to Shizune about that and it nearly caused me choke to death on one of those cookies your mother sent me!"

Sakura crossed her arms with a smug smile, feeling really proud now because all Sasuke could manage now was incoherent sputterings of rage. She opened her mouth to say something more when suddenly a whole tsunami of snow crashed down upon the five kids. One by one their heads popped out of the snow, all looking up into the widely laughing face of none other then Jiraiya.

The pink haired girl sighed as Naruto snarled, struggling to free himself of the hard packed snow to no avail. That only caused the older man to laugh harder.

"Hey brats! How's temperature down there?" Jiraiya grinned.

George's right eyebrow twitched and the point of his wand popped out of the snow. "Maximus Reducio!"

The white haired sennin suddenly shrank to the size of a five year old. Fred smirked as he and twin wriggled out of the snow, both with armfuls of the white powder. Grinning evilly, they dumped their load on him before he could do anything. Moments later Jiraiya's shrunken head popped out of the snow.

"So old man, how's the temperature down there?"

Jiraiya glowered. "Wiseass!" he squeaked in his shrunken comical voice. "Now turn me back to you brat!"

"What's it worth to yah?"

"WHAT? I'M A TEACHER HERE!"

"Not one of ours, plus you don't have the same rights as the other professors - you lost those when you bribed that Prefect into giving you the password to their bathroom"

The white haired man continued to argue as Fred and George proceeded to help out the others. The five frozen students; two wizards and three shinobi, surrounded the shrunken man.

"I think it would be wise to meet their demands ero-sennin" Naruto replied cheekily, his famous foxy grin crossing his face.

The sennin mumbled a moment before looking back up at the twins.

"Fine. I'll give you what you asked me for last time. You'll find it waiting for you Christmas morning"

Fred and George's eyes lighted up as if they had just been given the keys to the Honeydukes candy shop. Swapping high fives, the identical pair saluted their friends and were off like a shot. Sakura as she watched the pair disappear in the distance before pulling out her wand and countering the spell. Moments later Jiraiya was standing again at his original height, glowering off in the direction the twins had vanished.

Turing to the three that were left behind, he smirked.

"Well brats, you'd better go get packed because this Christmas we are going to Lighting Country!"

.-

Ron awoke with start. Afternoon light filtered through the open window of room that he and Harry shared. He felt as if his head had been stuffed with cotton and it made sense now that he thought about it. Judging by the height of the sun, he must have been asleep for five hours. The fact that he was still alive had to mean that his team's mission had been a success.

Yawning, the redheaded boy climbed out of bed and preceded to travel down to the first floor of the small cabin that he and his friends were renting during their stay in Lightning Country. He could hear the sound of Harry and Hermione sparing outside and had to smile. For the next two weeks he wouldn't have to worry about the annoying D rank missions of walking dogs, catching cats, buying and delivering groceries, shoveling snow… it was just beginning to become a bit much. This time was going to be something special! And like always, Kakashi had been exceeding vague on what they'd be doing and with his irritating little smirk, told them that they would find out soon.

Ron opened the door and poked his head out. He shivered, releasing a breath that clouded in the cold air in front of his face as he watched his two friend battle and their teacher ignore everything whist he read that annoying orange novel.

"Damn this sucks…" he muttered as he stepped out of the cabin, avoided the ongoing fight and plopped down next to Kakashi; the jounin not even bothering to look up while he giggled disturbingly at his book.

A soft tingling chuckle interrupted his thoughts.

Sighing, Ron summoned up his Spirit Eyes to stare across the fire at the blindingly white form of his ever annoying companion.

"Are you ever going to stop that?"

"Why?" the spirit laughed again, causing Kakashi to twitch and turn his one eye in the direction of the invisible spirit. "Pestering you is so much fun. I mean hell, you wizards have such better reactions then us shinobi"

Ron frowned.

"I highly doubt that"

The sliver haired man snorted softly, but said nothing as he continued to read.

"I guess your right, but it doesn't really matter. Soon enough I'll be alive again and be able to put things right. Too much discord in Konoha these days…"

"You really care about the village don't you?" the boy stated more then asked.

If the spirit could glare, it glared at him. "Of course kid. I lived, breathed, bleed and died for Konoha. So many people have perished to see that she and its people survive. It is the sacrifice that many shinobi, and even many wizards, do to keep their homes safe. But it saddens me to see the that have transpired within her walls. The veritable pain it causes me to watch and be unable to help hurts my soul. With Orochimaru and your Voldemort as cohorts has really brought a whirlwind down upon us. I hope that when the time that is fated arrives, I'll be able to stand at your side"

"You'd fight with me?"

"While I haven't known you long nor watched you from afar like I have with those who have come before, I have seen in you and your friends true fighter's spirits. You stand up for what you believe in even when the inevitable says otherwise. Harry holds the heavy weight being a prophesied child, Hermione - even in her vast knowledge - knows too much at times and you hold the balance of life and death. When the day comes, I'd be honored to fight beside you"

The redhead blushed with embarrassment. "So… when are you going to tell me who you are?"

The spirit crossed its arms at the same moment that Kakashi finally sighed and set down his book.

"I like to know that too" he muttered behind his mask. "Having a name to the invisible friend might make you're craziness seem more realistic…"

"How many time have we gone over that? I cannot reveal to you my true identity until the day of my resurrection. We have too many enemies lurking in the shadows that its would be best to keep it quite"

"But I wouldn't tell anyone!"

"You sure about that?" the spirit chided, its body of light shimmering. "I know for one you like to brag. I'll never get over the first time Konohamaru used the Sexy no Jutsu on you - I've never witnessed one succumb to the power of that technique faster then you. I must say the kid had you whipped in that bragging session"

"Can I keep my dignity please?"

"Oh fine, take all the fun out of it?"

"Well, since you wont tell me who you are, could I at least know what gender you are. Its kinda getting tiresome referring to you as an it"

The was a gasp of mock indignation. "I'll have you know that when I was alive I was every bit, one hundred percent male - one x and one y chromosome included!"

Ron chocked on a snicker.

"Then why are you reacting like a hormonal teenage girl?"

The jounin next to him started to laugh uncontrollably, Harry and Hermione joining in as they had stopped moments before to listen in on another on of Ron's 'crazy-talk sessions'.

"HOW DARE YOU! I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I WAS AND STILL AM VERY MANLY!"

They stopped though, when they felt the mild rage wash over them. The sliver haired jounin frowned.

"So didn't piss your ghosty off again did you?"

"Ghosty am I? Why you wrenched brat! I am soo much better then that and you know it!"

Biting back a laugh, the redhead smirked. "He thinks you're a brat"

Kakashi's visible eyebrow arched slightly.

"I'm twenty eight years old - I am hardly a brat"

Ron shock in head sadly but snickered again what the spirit was saying now.

"And what do you think Obito would say to that?"

Everyone went deathly silent. It was as if the sound had been sucked out of the immediate area. Harry and Hermione, who had stopped next to the talking pair looked at each other with worried glances before slowly and wisely backing away.

"How do you know about that..."

It seemed more of demanded statement rather a question.

"He says your open book. What one may try to hide and think they have hidden can be seen by those with invisible eyes - you should know this by now. Everyone is being watched over by those who have been unable to move on. Your friend is not one of them, but I have on good authority that he doesn't blame you for his death. Some things are clear to see and I don't even need these eyes to look into you soul - some things you can see with your heart. Now before I start spouting the gushy mushy stuff, I'd just like you to know that like most of Konoha's vast collection of undeparted spirits, he has been watching"

There was more silence as the only sound with that of teeth being grinned together.

"He doesn't know anything" Kakashi finally answered in a barely audible voice, purposely looking away. "Go spar with Hermione - she won the duel"

No longer a part of the dead conversation, the spirit shock his head and sighed dejectedly. "Gee, don't even think about asking for any favors when I came back to life…"


	23. Chapter 23 Why They NEVER Should've met

Chapter Twenty Three - The Reason They NEVER Should Have Met

Without a word to each other, the two friends walked out into the field and faced off with only each other in their sights. The redhead smirked as he dropped into the opening stance of the Tiger Claw while the brunette rolled her eyes with exasperation and held Amaiko high. She took a deep claming breath before taking up her Innocent Fist stance. That was enough to tell the red haired boy that she was ready.

For the first few seconds, neither moved.

During those few seconds, Ron watched her silently. Inside his mind he was analyzing and debating how their duel would turn out even before it even started. He was confidant in his both his strengths and weaknesses, determined to use both against the now incredibly scary she looked. The sword wielding girl before him looked detached the rest of the world, seen as she didn't have much of a stomach for inflicting pain much a less the thought of having to kill the occasional enemy nin in the future. It was almost down right creepy to see the bookworm completely devoid emotion, and that was she attacked.

Grinning wildly, Ron dodged her first punch and intercepted the second. His determination didn't deter his focus as he twisted in mid air, effectively allowing him to catch her in the shoulder blades with a tiger strike. But when the bushy haired girl turned, her brown gaze was a calculating as ice.

"Are you taking it easy on me Ronnikins?" she chuckled as she returned to her stance.

He smirked.

"You wish"

He couldn't have been more excited to see that she was underestimating the plan he had in store for her. Whirling around, he deftly snatched up three kunai from his leg pouch and let them fly while she deflected them with her sword. During the few seconds that she was distracted, Ron took the advantage to form some seals.

"Alright! Time for a little ass kicking! Fuuton: Taizen Ken sano Minato no Jutsu! "

He leapt at her, high powered white winds swirling dangerously around one fist and a kunai in the other as he parried a chakra enhanced blow from (sweet child) and managed to connect his own attack with her unprotected stomach. Hermione gasped in shock, stumbling backward as she bit into her lip to keep from crying out.

Meanwhile, outside the battle, Kakashi and Harry watched with interest and awe. Neither one had really showed their strengths until today. Both Ron and Hermione were evenly matched though the latter should have more tired due to the duel she had just fought Harry.

Not so. Their technique was astounding when one took into account that the duo had only been learning this stuff for a few months. What one lacked they made up for with combos and concentration. It was in watching this fight that the sliver haired jounin knew for certain that they could handle the pressure of the Chuunin Exams. Each had amazing potential that pushed past the boundaries of his own expectations - it almost reminded him something he himself had experienced, and what felt, like a long time ago.

Turing to glance at his other student, he found that Harry was looking away, specking in unnerving hissing whispers to something inside his jacket.

Kakashi groaned inwardly. He really was getting old…

"Suiton: Suiheki Sou no Jutsu"

He was distracted from his thoughts as twin walls of water sprang up on either side of the bushy haired girl a rope of fire that had looped itself around her was put out.

"You gotta try better then that!" she mocked and they clashed again.

Once again, Ron was franticly trying to piece back together the what once been his 'foolproof' plan. Hermione had summoned up some unexpected things in the last few minutes that he would have to rethink his strategy. He crouched low and waited again.

Neither blinked. It was if the world stood still and nothing mattered by who attacked first. Like two battle hardened warriors, they waited for the other to make a move. But as impassive as the red hair on his head, Ron was never one that like a long wait. Making the first move, he fainted to the left before taking a right and charged.

It would have been the defining moment. It would have been Ron's chance to hold victory with a hoity smirk over 'Lil Ms. Know It All' if it hadn't been for the force of a great wind and razor-sharp leaves that sent him sprawling into snow.

"And we have touchdown!" a voice shouted and when he looked up, the cause of the wind happened to be four (actually three) disgruntled people holding an the little statue of a wizard.

"That isn't funny ero-sennin! That had to be by far the most putrid way to travel!" yelled a loud obnoxious blonde who just so happened to have golden ears atop his head and the coolest pair of eyes he'd seen since Madam Hooch.

That could only mean one thing…

Next to him, Hermione growled softly. Turing and with her best forced grin and a face that held false sweetness enough to kill a kitten, the girl sang out in a voice filled with instant death.

"Oh Kakashi… you didn't just happened to forget to tell us something now did you?"

.-

From the moment they arrived, Sasuke wished they could go back. The original prospect of a training excursion was a great chance to brush up on his skills - as Naruto had pointed out during their snowball fight - which were getting rusty from lack of use as well as to get away from Weasley twins. It would have been good, had there not been the 'small' complication that was Hatake Kakashi and their wizard exchanges.

That was not good at all.

The first was a girl with a brown hair that looked like she had been struck by a lightning jutsu. She also sported abnormally large front teeth, a training dirtied green sink top and tight dark blue knee shorts. Her brown eyes had an intelligent and gentle quality, though it didn't cover the mean streak that lay hidden beneath the surface.

Hermione Granger.

The second was definitely a Weasley. His red hair and freckles stuck out like a sore thumb while he sat in the snow. Dressed in a padded (many times stitched) fawn jacket and dark green shorts, this boy had a strange vibe - one that latterly screamed a confusing combination of life and death. His blue eyes seemed to contain a quality that could look into your very soul.

Ron Weasley.

The third was another boy with a mane of unruly raven hair that was much like Naruto's own unkempt blonde. He wore a golden brown trench coat, with a red shirt and shorts - a combination of the Gryffindor house colors - and a pair of plain wire rimmed glasses. The emerald gaze lock on his own onyx for a minute before he had to break contact. He was a rival…

Harry Potter.

But then something made his heart stop. From the boy's coat pocket, the head of a red/gold snake poked out, its eyes laughing at him and a smirk across its scaly lips. He was about to say something about that when suddenly a shriek snared his attention.

"KAKASHI!"

Snake forgotten, the Uchiha watched as the bushy haired girl, tired from what looked like a sparring session, leapt at the silver haired jounin with her arms outstretched.

"Explain to me to now why you didn't think it was a good idea to tell us about all this or," she snarled and snatched his little orange book away. "I'll burn this!"

He never thought it was possible, the sight of Kakashi's uncovered eye nearly popping out of its socket was almost comical.

"Well… I was going to, but I kinda forget after helping a girl get her kitty out of a tree…"

"LIER!" both Hermione and Ron shouted at once, Harry rolling his eyes.

Next to him, Naruto snickered. Apparently these three were more like them then they expected.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Kakashi said, waving his hands in surrender. "Jiraiya-sama and I thought it would be a good time to get a bunch of stuff done at once. You three needed the time to work on perfected you're new jutsus while those three were in desperate need of some training to keep themselves in shape for when they come home. It was also chance for you six to meet each other and I dare say that Christmas will be hell"

There was silence for a moment before Naruto finally spoke up.

"Geeze Kakashi-sensei - she's got you whipped!"

The very sound of the blonde's voice caused the jounin to whirl about, a strange mired of emotions written all over the uncovered part of his face. Sasuke was puzzled as he felt Naruto stiffen.

"What is it dobe?"

"He knows…"

"Knows what"

The fox-boy's eye twitched before he snapped, yelling at the top of his lungs. "HE KNOWS , HE KNOWS. DON'T TELL ME YOU'VE FORGOTTEN ALREADY YOU BASTARD?"

"Are you saying what I think your saying?" the dark haired boy asked, knowing that the only real secret Naruto had now was his parentage.

"OF COURSE!"

"Damn…"

They turned to see that Ron had an awkward look on his face, his attention on Harry. "What do think? Are they talking about what I think they're talking about?"

The whole thing had only Jiraiya and Sakura looking confused.

"YOU KNOW?" Naruto shrieked, his feline eyes burning wholes into the redhead.

Ron blanched.

"Well… kinda sort maybe…"

"SINCE WHEN?"

"Umm…"

Hermione sighed. "Since your birthday"

"WHAT?"

His yelling was only silenced when the girl got so fed up that she bopped him over the head, effectively shutting him up.

"Yes, we've known since then but we where ordered to keep our mouths shut. Kakashi has known since Halloween. How long have you known?"

"Half a month…"

"What are you brats talking about?"

The white haired sennin looked very frustrated, mostly having overworked his brain trying to figure it out himself. The whole thing had Kakashi, Harry and Hermione staring at the older man with incredulous gazes.

"You mean he doesn't know?" Kakashi winced, slowing backing away. "Ooh this isn't going to be pretty…"

"What isn't going to be pretty? Won't anyone at least tell me what's going on?" Sakura whined.

Sasuke didn't know what to do. Naruto looked as though he had swallowed Gamabunta; a nasty green pallor staining to his whiskered face. Hermione had a only a look of pity, Ron one of 'I wish I wasn't here for this' and Harry one of understanding.

And it was Kakashi that who opened his mouth.

"Kami, we all must be blind! Tell me Jiraiya, who does he look like?"

The Toad sennin couldn't be more confused. "Well I've always thought he looked like Minato…"

"Exactly!" the copy-nin snapped. "He's his son!"

Seconds, Jiraiya fainted.

.-

It had been five days…

Five days of the worst torture ever! Life for everyone who found themselves sharing that little cabin understood it well. It became official amongst the children that Kakashi and Jiraiya must have been crazy when they thought that it was a good idea to sped three weeks in the same small cabin was going to be beneficial.

Poor Naruto had been glomped by Jiraiya as soon as the old pervert finally woke up, the sennin sobbing over the fact that his student's son wasn't really dead and that he had never known before hand that he was alive and that he had been blind enough not to recognize the resemblance. The only thing that saved the boy was Kakashi dragging the older man away.

But that didn't mean everything went well. Due to the lack of space, the four boys found themselves confined to one room. Cramped and bitchy whenever they woke up in morning, arguments always arose over who's cloths were whose, who was hogging the bathroom and wanted to spar with who. They all seemed to be acting like a sorority from hell (all which Jiraiya planed on work into his next book…)

And then there was the fact that Sasuke blurted out that Harry had a pet snake. Although it seemed innocent enough, the Toad sennin seen it as a spy and opted to cook it in a stir fry. That only made Harry really pissed off, all the while shouting at the old man in some strange form of snake-speech while Ron and Hermione sat back with pale faces. But it got to the point that no one could stand the arugments any longer that the raven haired boy was forced to dismiss his scaly friend.

For the sake of all the males, with an extra female around, Hermione calm down drastically but it seemed that Sakura's newly acquired rage took care of all the excretion she had been put through since September. It made training easier and strengths were shown well over all.

Sadly, not long before Christmas Eve, Kakashi learned the hard way that evil always came in pairs. Three burnt copies of Come, Come Paradise later and the poor silver haired jounin was a sobbing wreck.

And it didn't help either that certain ghost always seemed to be laughing at him…

.-

"Would it kill you to smile a little? I bet there are corpses livelier then you"

Hermione was not in a good mood. She and Sakura had spend all day getting the cabin decorated using magic since it was finally Christmas Eve. Naruto had tacked up all their cards with kunai while he and Ron argued over which flavor of ramen was the best. Even Harry had helped out since Kakashi and Jiraiya decided to leave them for the night to treat themselves to an early Christmas present at the Kumogakure hot springs.

The only problem was Sasuke.

"No"

"Oh lighten up! Its Christmas tomorrow!"

The dark haired boy glared at her before replying with a "Ba Humbug"

He was currently in the middle of a game of Wizard's Chess with Ron, lapsing back into full-out, as Naruto liked to call it, brood mode. She watched sadly as he turned that glare to the redhead's lead Knight - it took out one of his Bishops, but it looked like he really didn't care. The little pieces on the board shook angry fists at him, like they did every time he was roped into playing, and looked him want to crush them with a chakra enhanced punch.

Ron grinned. "Checkmate"

"Hmp"

The redhead crossed his arms at the show of unfriendliness.

"Did you know a chip on the shoulder is often a piece of wood that has fallen from the head?" he quipped sarcastically.

Sasuke just scowled. "I hate you"

"Mutual"

"Oh be nice you two!" Sakura snapped, looking up from her current task of eating a cookie. "Hermione's right - its Christmas and there's no joy in the air. Now Ron won - choose your prize carrot-top"

Ron glowered, but soon became a smirk. "You owe Harry"

"And how is that possible? I barely even know you three"

The red haired boy turned to look at his best friend, and the other's gazes followed suit. Harry shuddered at the five pairs of eyes landed on him and the memories came back to him.

"He means you owe me because for the last four and a half mouths I have been forced against my will into being your personal replacement for the 'Fangirls United of Konoha'. You have no idea the trauma I have suffered at the hands of one Yamanaka Ino. Just getting to meet you for the first time makes me want to drag you back there kicking and screaming just so I throw you to the rabid masses so that I can survive one night without being jumped in streets some adolescent girl who wants to use me to get over you! I am not a piece of meat goddamn it!"

As his explanation ended in a rant, it clear to see that was enough to cheer the stoic boy up. So un-Sasuke-like, he burst out laughing.

"Well I appreciate your courage and will to survive," he sneered. "But you've only had just had a taste at how horrible it is. Try living your life that way"

Harry chucked a pillow at his head.

"What was that for?"

"For being an ass. No wonder Ino was so quick to jump me as soon as you had left. But I think I preferred the fate I had as my cousin Dudley's punching bag thank you very much - ell, he's been as big as Choji since he was six. I think I'd rather deal with that any day"

Sasuke growled, before a nasty little smirk crossed his face.

"Okay, so I owe you. Then I challenge you to fight - if you win, I'll make sure that Ino doesn't touch you ever again"

Harry smirked back. "I guess that means I'd have to do the same for you if I lose right?"

"Yes"

"Good. Ron, Naruto, Hermione and Sakura - you're going to be the witnesses!"

"Umm…" Sakura started. "Don't you need a game or something - like Rock, Paper, Scissors?"

"Yeah," Naruto grinned foxily. "But I have a better idea! You both say you'll go out on a date with her and with any luck she'll have an aneurysm from the shock!"


	24. Chapter 24On the Eve of Destiny

Chapter Twenty Four - On the Eve of Destiny

It was all Harry's fault.

Well not really, but sort of.

Kakashi sighed as he walked with Jiraiya at his side while the older man sported a nasty black eye and was pinching the bridge of his noise in order to hold back a nosebleed. While the white haired sennin had at least been able to get part of his Christmas present, the silver haired jounin had not. He could feel the eyes of many nin watching their departure. While the Cloud-nin were still serious enemies with Konoha since the attempted kidnapping of Hyuuga Hinata almost six years ago, no one was openly hostile.

Well, not since over half the populace had seen Harry's scar.

Yes, the Potter boy had become very famous in Kumogakure. Blindsided by a group of jounin less then a mile outside the village limits, the green eyed youth and his friends had fought back instantly. After nearly being decapitated, the boy had dispatched his attacker cleanly with a massive lightning bolt - the immensely difficult and chakra draining Tengokuheki - the Heavenly Strike. It was a jutsu that had originated here in Lightning Country, having once been used by the Raikages of the past.

And Harry had mastered it.

But during the attack, the now dead jounin had torn off Harry's hitai-ate. Once removed, lighting bolt curse scar was revealed for all eyes to see. Any remaining nin that had planned on avenging their fallen comrade stopped in shock, their eye locked on the scar as if it was some kind of a message from Kami above.

And in a sense it was.

Unable to do anything, the group of four had been escorted by the survivors back the village. Harry muttered complaints about being stared at as they were led through the city to see the Raikage himself. It was from the Cloud Village leader that they discovered there was yet another prophesy that would mess with their lives - an ancient one that was apart of Lightning Country's legacy.

Once in the audience of the current Raikage, the village leader had fervently explained that Kumogakure had once played host to a powerful wizard seer. Highly noted was that it was during the time that animosity between the two races was nothing short of 'kill on sight'. But for the nin of the clouds, the prospect of gaining a vision or two had been in the people's best interest. So it would be that before the wizard left them, they received not only one vision, but five and one prophecy.

Kakashi had dreaded hearing what the Raikage would tell them, knowing that most trouble seemed to be an onus on all his students. And he was right in knowing that he didn't want to hear what the prophecy described. It had stated in a time of looming darkness, six beings in the shapes animals would descend from the blackened skies to purge the world of evil. Without them, all was surely doomed.

The first would be a wolf and it would possess the soul of the Lightning Child - he whobares the mark of the heavens. The second would be a fox and it would possess the soul of the Innocent Evil. The third would be a puma and it would possess the soul the All Knowing. The fourth would be a rabbit and possess the soul of the Avenger. The fifth would be a weasel and would possess the soul of the Shaman. Finally the sixth would be a hawk, possessing the dual soul of the Two Minded.

Only then could the darkness be vanquished.

So as it were, Kakashi hadn't really didn't like the sounds of that. Knowing who his students were, he knew instantly which figure they represented.

Harry's animagus form was that of a large wolf and a he had a lighting bolt scar - both marking him at the Lighting Child.

Naruto had the demon form of a humongous fox and he was half merged with Kyuubi - marking him as the Innocent Evil.

Hermione's animagus form was that of a small dark brown puma and had a vast intellectual brain - marking her as the All Knowing.

Sasuke's animagus form was that of a rabbit (and Kakashi still got a laugh out of that one) as well of wanting revenge for his clan - marking him as the Avenger, as he was already known for.

Ron's animagus form was that of scrawny weasel and had life-giving/life-taking powers - marking him as the Shaman.

As for Sakura, her animagus form was that of lethal hawk and even though it wasn't common knowledge, but he knew that had a case of every forth generation, a female child in Konoha would be born with conjoined personalities - marking her as the Two Minded.

"Why can't wed ever get a brake?" Ron had growled, banging his fist on the closest table while Harry nodded in agreement.

Hermione had sighed too. "Maybe its destiny. Most people write their own, but there are times that Fate takes things into its own hands. I'd hate to think that we're doomed, so why not rise to meet the challenges like we have before?"

Anyway, Kakashi also knew that meant they were supposed to play some critical roll in, what he knew would be, the battle that would decide the fate of the world. It wasn't as if they really needed all that on top of what they had already gone through. Yet all his troubles seemed to evaporate the moment he set foot into the cabin.

The events of the past week and tonight's hot springs excursion evaporated as he halted in his tacks, gazing in. Gathered near the fireplace, in a now fully decorated kitchen, were said students. Among the gales of laughter, Naruto and Ron stood with those 'I've-been-evil-grins' on their faces and they were singing.

Before he could ask any of them what was going on, the blonde and the redhead caught his eye, grinned and burst into a new song, Ron singing the first line at the top of his lungs in the most annoying voice imaginable, Naruto following suit with the rest of the verse.

"On the first day of Christmas my sensei sent to me -

The Kyuubi no Kitsune

On the second day of Christmas my sensei sent to me -

Two exploding tags

And The Kyuubi no Kitsune

On the third day of Christmas my sensei sent to me -

Three Anbu squads

Two exploding tags

And The Kyuubi no Kitsune

On the fourth day of Christmas my sensei sent to me -

Four irate chuunin

Three Anbu squads

Two exploding tags

And The Kyuubi no Kitsune

On the fifth day of Christmas my sensei sent to me -

Five genin teams!

Four irate chuunin

Three Anbu squads

Two exploding tags

And The Kyuubi no Kitsune

On the sixth day of Christmas my sensei sent to me -

Six jounin fighting

Five genin teams!

Four irate chuunin

Three Anbu squads

Two exploding tags

And The Kyuubi no Kitsune

On the seventh day of Christmas my sensei sent to me -

Seven allied treaties

Six jounin fighting

Five genin teams!

Four irate chuunin

Three Anbu squads

Two exploding tags

And The Kyuubi no Kitsune

On the eighth day of Christmas my sensei sent to me -

Eight bowls of ramen

Seven allied treaties

Six jounin fighting

Five genin teams!

Four irate chuunin

Three Anbu squads

Two exploding tags

And The Kyuubi no Kitsune

On the ninth day of Christmas my sensei sent to me -

Nine Katon jutsus

Eight bowls of ramen

Seven allied treaties

Six jounin fighting

Five genin teams!

Four irate chuunin

Three Anbu squads

Two exploding tags

And The Kyuubi no Kitsune

On the tenth day of Christmas my sensei sent to me -

Ten D rank missions

Nine Katon jutsus

Eight bowls of ramen

Seven allied treaties

Six jounin fighting

Five genin teams!

Four irate chuunin

Three Anbu squads

Two exploding tags

And The Kyuubi no Kitsune

On the eleventh day of Christmas my sensei sent to me -

Eleven ladies screaming

Ten D rank missions

Nine Katon jutsus

Eight bowls of ramen

Seven allied treaties

Six jounin fighting

Five genin teams!

Four irate chuunin

Three Anbu squads

Two exploding tags

And The Kyuubi no Kitsune

On the twelfth day of Christmas my sensei sent to me -

Twelve perverts peeping

Eleven ladies screaming

Ten D rank missions

Nine Katon jutsus

Eight bowls of ramen

Seven allied treaties

Six jounin fighting

Five genin teams!

Four irate chuunin

Three Anbu squads

Two exploding tags

And The Kyuubi no Kitsune!"

By the end of the song, Harry was choking on a mouthful of coco since he was laughing so hard. The vocal pair bowed theatrically while the girls whistling loudly as though they were a part of a concert audience and Sasuke, looking out of place, clapped mockingly with a genuine smile on his face. The silver haired man had to admit that the song was creative - hell, it had Sasuke smiling and if that wasn't powerful, what was?

All of his troubles forgotten, Kakashi grinned.

"Yo! Guess what happen to Jiraiya?"

.-

It was very late when everyone decided to call it a night - dawn was after all only a few hours away. Each child slept and each child dreamed, all lost in their own little worlds. They're sleeps were much like the old poem, save for the fact that no visions of sugarplums danced in their heads.

It was nice things overall, but for one of them, it was meeting that couldn't happen anywhere else…

.-

Sakura dreamed.

In her dream, everything around her seemed askew. Before her lay a rambling labyrinth choked by massive trees and vines allowing one half of this altered reality was bathed in light while the other was cast into darkness.

"Its beautiful, isn't it?"

Sakura gasped and whirled around. She hadn't sensed anyone a moment before, but now her eyes were locked onto a girl standing next to her. The newcomer wore cloths of deep red that fit snuggly on her warrior's build while her short-cropped pink hair was wild, her expression serious and a complex form of kanji written upon her forehead. The girl turned and her jade green eyes captured those staring at her.

"W-who are you…?" Sakura stuttered, slowly backing away from the creature that so looked like herself.

The girl laughed, her eyes dancing.

"I would have thought you'd have known that by now iimoto. I am your strength, your fearlessness, and your rage. Whenever you are in need of those, I give them to you. When you are in need of me, you channel my consciousness into your own"

"That doesn't answer my question. Who are you?"

"I am your Inner Sakura"

Sakura's eyes widened. "But you're not real! I only made up that name that to explain the unexplainable!"

Inner Sakura smiled.

"You'd like to think that wouldn't you - that you're alone in your head. Who do you think stopped Ino-pig from defeating you at the last Chuunin Exams? That was I. Who got mad at the Sorting Hat before you were sorted into Gryffindor on the first day of school at Hogwarts? I've been with you always, always living in the darkness - you're inner shadow…"

She pointed out at the vast labyrinth. Sakura looked to were her other half's finger pointed - the shadowy part of the maze.

"That is were I live" Inner Sakura nodded. "Four generations have past and a new Naiteki Tsuin has been born. Do you remember what that centaur called you on Halloween? He called you 'Haruno Sakura of the Two Minds'. I am your birthright, a gift to you from your great grandmother and her great grandmother before her. I am a part of a heritage that has been past on for thousands of years. I've been apart of many clans, but they always change. It is to every forth woman of your line that I have been born. Each time I am reborn and although I lack the personalities of my former lives, they all live on through me"

"So you mean to say that you're not really me?"

"In a way…"

"Then who are you?"

Inner Sakura rolled her eyes. Taking Sakura by the hand, the warrior led the girl through the jumble that was their soul. The pink haired kunoichi was starting to feel uneasy. Her other half was leading her into the shadows of her soul. It wasn't evil or tainted, but it seemed to have an unearthly feel to it all. Even the vine-covered walls shimmered unnaturally.

"I am your iimoto and you are mine. There is no easy way of telling you, but would it have been easier to say that you were your own great grandmother?"

"Hunh?"

Sakura blinked and realized that Inner Sakura has stopped. They were in a chamber and all around them were clear mirrors, each one of them showing different young women from the past.

"Your soul - our soul - has been reincarnated many times. A daughter is always born, and so our soul lives on. These women - we were once them. They are our grandmothers - sisters - all of them long forgotten. Like I told you earlier, I don't remember these lives, but they happen and so that is why this room is here. It's a testament to what once was"

"But what do you want?"

The pink haired girl looked at her inner twin to see that the other girl's expression was grim now. "I want to warn you…"

"Hunh?" Sakura looked even more confused. "Why?"

Inner Sakura sighed. " There are things in this world that aren't as nice as having a crush on a cute boy like Sasuke-kun. Ever since you started learning kijutsu as Hogwarts, you've begun to change. Your getting stronger and more focused, but your also losing control"

"Losing control"

"Exactly. Its time for me to be released. For these last twelve years, we've been joined, but now its time that I have a little independence. When you call upon me, we can separate and I'd have a body much like Naruto's shadow clones. If you were hurt and needed me, I could take control of 'our' body. I'm sure you've noticed that you've doing things out of the ordinary… like the when you gave Sasuke-kun that face wash in the snow the day we left Hogwarts…"

"THAT WAS YOU?"

The warrior girl blushed.

"Gomennasai iimoto - I was mad and your control over our mind slipped enough that my emotions where past on to you…"

Sakura groaned, ringing her hands as she paced about the room.

"Why me…" she whimpered.

"Because that's just the way it is. But we must hurry - our friends are in danger"

Green eyes widened sharply.

"Danger? What kind of danger"

Inner Sakura's expression was grave. "The worst"


	25. Chapter 25

Sequel:Kijutsu no Muyo is up.


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